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© East County Sports.com
TIERRASANTA (5-1-09) — Christian High coach MIKE MITCHELL decided to play a hunch in Thursday’s (Apr. 30) Eastern League game at Serra.

That is, the veteran Patriots’ skipper moved sophomore MICHAEL POTEET from the No. 9 slot in his batting order to the No. 5 hole. Quite a jump. Quite a challenge considering Poteet’s batting average was hovering slightly above the .200 mark.

Poteet made his coach look good by going 4-for-4 with two doubles, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored in Christian’s 13-0 rout of the Conquistadors.

“Michael has been really struggling, but I just had a feeling because he’s been working hard and taking a lot more batting practice,” Mitchell said. “I thought this might be a break-out game for him. I’ve been doing this a long time and I play my hunches more often than some other coaches do. It’s nice to see one pay off.”

Not to be overlooked was the pitching of Michael’s freshman brother, right-hander CODY POTEET, who fired a no-hitter and struck out 11. It was his 5th win without a loss for the younger Poteet.

“Of the 25 batters he faced, Cody had 20 first-pitch strikes,” Mitchell said. “They didn’t hit the ball out of the infield all day. In fact they only hit three balls in the air, and those were blooper pop-ups.”

Cody Poteet agreed that no one in the Serra lineup hit the ball hard against him.

“My control is as sharp as it’s been all year,” he said. “I actually had a little extra velocity today. My arm felt strong, as did my legs. I had total command – I was able to throw the ball by guys and I touched 90 mph at times.”

The younger Poteet said he can usually tell what kind of game he’s going to have when he throws in the bullpen. He said he likes to know when he will be pitching so he can make his mental as well as physical preparations long before that.

“I start building my confidence when I throw a bullpen a couple days before, and then warm up the day of the game,” he said. “I could feel that it was going to be a good day (at Serra) before I made my first pitch.”

Michael Poteet broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd inning with a 2-run double off the top of the right-field fence. It was one of two doubles he had in the game.

“When Coach Mitchell told me he was moving me up in the batting order it reminded me of a game I had as a freshman against St. Augustine ,” said Michael. “Most of my freshman season I was batting in the No. 7 spot, but on that particular day Coach moved me to clean-up. I had a pretty good day – I was 3-for-3 with two doubles and six RBI.”

Michael Poteet had an RBI single in the 4th inning and then keyed a four run rally in the 6th with a one-out single.

“It’s kinda strange really,” said Michael. “When Coach Mitchell told me he was moving me up in the order he also told me I was going to come out of my slump. When your coach tells you that, it gives you a lot more confidence, knowing that he believes in you.”

Between them the Poteet brothers were 6-for-8 with four extra base hits, four RBI and four runs scored.

“It was a big day for the Poteet family,” Mitchell said. “Our kids are kinda amazed.”

Sophomore JOSH SUFFERIDGE returned to the team after suffering a broken ankle in the scrimmage at the beginning of the season, starting at third base.

“Sufferidge did a good job putting the ball in play. He was a little nervous before the game. It was really nice to see him go out and contribute.”

Sufferidge was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

Christian improved to 12-7 overall and 3-2 in league, while Serra slumped to 7-13, 1-4.

CHRISTIAN LIFE 12, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 8 – Errors again made the difference in Foothills Christian’s Citrus League West duel with Christian Life Academy Thursday (Apr. 30) at Stars Field on the Barona Indian Reservation.

Four Foothills miscues led to five unearned runs for Christian Life.

The Knights (8-5, CWL) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning against the visiting Eagles (14-2, 6-1) then watched Christian Life reel off 11 unanswered runs.

Foothills made a belated charge with five runs in the bottom of the 6th but that is as close as it would get.

Ten of Christian Life’s 12 runs came after two outs.

“Our pitcher DEREK DEYLING pitched his heart out,” Foothills coach STEVE PERDUE said.

“But it doesn’t help when nobody will leave their feet for a fly ball. I said all along as long as we give 110 percent, I would be happy. The lack of heart and effort from a few is very troublesome.”

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-30-09) — To a man, the Steele Canyon Cougars admit to being elated by their No. 9 ranking in one major San Diego CIF poll. However, it could be the Cougars (16-4, 7-0 GSL) are rated too low.

The visiting Cougars posted their 9th straight win in Wednesday’s (Apr. 29) Grossmont South League game at Granite Hills, disposing of the Eagles, who are said to be their primary challenger for the league laurels.

Make no mistake about it, Granite Hills (9-11, 4-3 GSL) put some pressure on the visiting Cougars but it didn’t seem to faze the boys from Rancho San Diego. Steele Canyon scored 10 runs in its final three at-bats to walk away with a relatively easy 11-3 victory and a 3-game lead in the Grossmont South.

“This was an important win for us because they (the Eagles) are one of the top teams that are competing with us,” senior second baseman NOLAN MURRAY said. “It’s just like last year – we had to compete with them for the league title then too.”

Steele Canyon scored five runs in the 5th inning to erase a 2-1 deficit and never looked back.

Granite Hills fueled the fire for the Cougars in the big inning as ace TRAVIS HOPPER issued two walks and made an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases with nobody out.

Murray was the first Cougar to make Hopper pay as he doubled into the left field corner to score CLAYTON ROYER (walk) and MICHAEL CASTRO (sac-E1).

DANNY MacINTYRE, who finished with four RBI in the game, hoisted a sacrifice fly to score ANTHONY SORRENTINO, giving the Cougars a 4-2 advantage. JESSE JENNER kept things going as he singled to right to drive in a run and when the ball eluded the Granite Hills right-fielder, raced all the way around to third. He scored on a basehit by JUSTIN DEGLER.

“We’re not just looking to win league. Our goal is to go 15-0,” said Murray, who was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Valhalla is the only team in the Grossmont South League to finish 15-0. The Norsemen, then coached by STEVE PERDUE, accomplished the feat in 2004.

ANDREW BELLATTI, the Steele Canyon Ironman on the mound, turned in his 5th complete game while scattering nine hits and allowing just two earned runs.

“I think I had good stuff,” said Bellatti, who ran his season record to 6-2 but recorded only three strikeouts. “I’ve been better. I couldn’t really throw my changeup efficiently like I like to today, so I just stuck to fastballs and sliders and got the job done.”

“In my opinion this was probably the most important game of the season. This put a lot more distance between us and Granite Hills (along with Helix, which is tied with the Eagles). Since we won this game, and if we can beat them on Friday (May 1), we’ll have a chance to clinch early.”

A pivotal point in the game came in the 3rd inning. One out singles by Granite Hills’ BRIAN CARROLL and JARED HUNT put runners at the corners. Freshman DANIEL STARWALT, who doubled in a run in the 1st inning, hit into a force play, allowing Carroll to score the go-ahead run from third. DYLAN GARCIA singled, sending Starwalt to second. DEAN MILLER lobbed a single to left field and Starwalt wheeled around third in an attempt to score from second.

Steele Canyon left-fielder TAYLOR MISHLER fired a one-hopper to catcher Jenner. The throw beat Starwalt to the plate and Jenner applied an aggressive tag for the inning-ending out.

“In a situation like that I’m always going to send my guy from second base,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said. “I knew it would take a perfect throw and that’s what they got. Jenner blocked the plate and Starwalt got his head driven into the dirt.”

Starwalt, the Eagles leading hitter, left the game with a concussion. He was transported to Grossmont Hospital where he was released about 10 o’clock Wednesday night.

Steele Canyon ’s offense never sputtered during the final three frames. Degler stroked a 2-run single in the 6th inning and MacIntyre blasted a 2-run homer in the 7th.

Nine Cougars contributed to Steele Canyon’s 12-hit attack.

“This is definitely a better team than last year when we won it,” Bellatti said. “We have more speed this year and that’s just an extra notch that we didn’t have before.”

Steele Canyon was 4-for-4 in stolen bases against Granite Hills.

“We’re used to playing from behind because we did that early,” said Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER. “We don’t get rattled when a team gets a run or two in the first couple innings. I know as head coach, this is an incredible situation we have out here – the coaches, the players – I enjoy it all.”

A line-drive triple by BENNY GUERRERO in the 9th inning with the scored tied set the stage for BRONSON RUNIONS’ game-winning sacrifice fly.

“Runions’ ball wasn’t hit all that deep so I decided to gamble,” said Helix coach COLE HOLLAND. “I sent Guerrero from third because I knew it would take a great throw to get him.”

Valhalla’s WILL COOMBS made a strong throw to catcher JOHN AGUIRRE-RUIZ. It was a photo finish, but Guerrero was in by a nose.

“It was a bang-bang play and Benny made a great slide to avoid the tag,” said Holland. “He came in wide and dragged his hand across the plate.”

There was much celebration on the Helix side but the Highlanders were far from home free.

The Norsemen (6-15, 2-5 GSL) opened the bottom of the 9th with back-to-back singles by AUSTIN HENSLEY and JOSH AUSTEL.

“I was getting a little concerned about then,” Holland admitted.

But senior reliever MICHAEL ANDRADE struck out the next batter for the first out. Aguirre-Ruiz then coaxed a walk to load the bases. After that it was Andrade’s turn to come up big again. He retired the final two Valhalla batters with a pop-up and a groundout to pick up his second win in four decisions.

“That was one intense high school baseball game,” Holland declared.

At the outset it looked like it was going to be a Helix runaway as the Highlanders scored four runs in the top of the 1st inning.

A one-out single by JAKE REED set the tone. Valhalla ’s CISCO TELLEZ, making his first start in more than a month due to injury, then plunked TREVOR SOTO with a pitch. ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ tripled past the diving Hensley in left field, scoring Reed and Soto. KEVIN SCOTT followed with a single to plate Rodriguez. Scott then stole second.

Tellez appeared to be out of the inning after that as he recorded a strikeout, but a throwing error by the catcher permitted Scott to score from second base.

Valhalla cut the Helix lead in half with a two-out rally in the 4th. Coombs reached base on a walk and advanced to third on a double by Aguirre-Ruiz. Both runners scored on NICK BROWN’s double.

The Norsemen tied the game on Hensley’s 2-run double with one out in the bottom of the 7th.

Helix regained the lead in the top of the 8th.

ANTHONY DIAZ walked, advanced to second on Rodriguez’ sacrifice bunt. A double by Scott scored Diaz with the go-ahead run. AUSTIN GONZALEZ hit a one-hopper back to the mound that was speared by TYLER JEZIERSKI, who fired to third baseman DANNY HAWKSLEY who slapped a tag on Scott for the second out.

Gonzalez kept the rally alive for the Highlanders by stealing second and third. In an attempt to nail Gonzalez going to third, the throw by catcher Aguirre-Ruiz hit the bat of batter MIKE LOPEZ, standing at the plate. The ball ricocheted down the left field line, allowing Gonzalez to score.

“I thought we had ‘em then,” Holland said.

Not so.

Aguirre-Ruiz led off the bottom of the 8th and was hit by a pitch. Lopez, the third Helix pitcher, pulled a muscle in his back and was replaced by Andrade. Andrade got the first out but surrendered a single to ANTHONY GONZALES. With two outs, Tellez singled to score Aguirre-Ruiz. Hawksley doubled to score Gonzales with the tying run.

Tellez attempted to score the winning run on Hawksley’s hit but was cut down at the plate on a throw from right-fielder Rodriguez to catcher Austin Gonzalez.

Despite that play, Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON was pleased with Tellez’ overall effort, which consisted of seven strong innings in which he allowed just two earned runs while striking out five and walking none.

“After the first inning, Cisco really settled down and threw a gem of a game,” Wilson said. “We kept hitting the ball hard and ended up the game with the bases juiced. Wish we could have scored then, but at least we gave ourselves the chance to win.”

MONTE VISTA 7, MOUNT MIGUEL 6 – It took a wild pitch to decide Wednesday’s (Apr. 29) battle of Spring Valley rivals.

With Monte Vista runners at first and third and one out, Mount Miguel reliever RUDY BURRUEL jumped ahead of CARLOS OCHOA, no balls and two strikes. Burruel’s third pitch went to the backstop, allowing NICK SABO to score from third.

Mount Miguel (6-14, 1-6 GSL) blew an early 3-0 lead but came back from a 6-3 deficit, eventually tying the game in the top of the 7th on RUDDY ACOSTA’s RBI double.

The Monarchs (6-13, 3-4 GSL) bounced back in the bottom of the 7th. Singles by Sabo and KEVIN STARLING put runners at the corners, setting the stage for the decisive pitch.

“After they tied the score in the 7th inning I knew I had to get on base,” said Sabo, who was 2-for-2 and reached base in all four of his at-bats. “After my single I was trying to steal second base when Kevin lined the ball off the second baseman’s glove, so I just kept on going to third base. When the count was 0-2 on Carlos, I was looking for something in the dirt. As soon as the ball hit the dirt I was off and running and scored easily.”

Sabo was hit by a pitch and scored in the 2nd inning; he was also awarded first base on a catcher’s interference in 3rd inning.

“It seems weird all the ways I reached base today,” Sabo said.

A 6-foot-3, 180-pound sophomore, Sabo (4-3) was a double threat, as usual. He turned in his 5th complete game while striking out 10.

“I didn’t expect to complete so many games,” Sabo said. “When I’m on the hill I don’t want to come out of the game. I’m glad that the coach has confidence in me when I am pitching.”

Things did not start out so smoothly for Sabo, however. Burruel led off the game for the visiting Matadors with a single. One out later Acosta hit his 5th home run of the season over the right-centerfield fence.

The Matadors made it 3-0 in the 2nd when JUWON McCRAY singled and scored on a double by JULIO ORTIZ.

Monte Vista fought back in the bottom of the 2nd for two runs. The Matadors helped the Monarchs’ cause by hitting two batters. BENNY GUERRERO singled in one run and a second scored on a groundout by JOE BRIDGERS.

With momentum swung their way, Monte Vista surged in front in the 3rd inning. ADAM TIMANUS smashed a deep drive to right-centerfield and two Matadors outfielders in pursuit collided. Timanus wound up at third with a triple.

Two Mount Miguel errors and RBI singles by SHAWN LaBOUBE and Bridgers gave Monte Vista a 5-3 lead. A solo home run by Timanus in the 4th inning extended Monte Vista’s advantage to 6-3.

Mount Miguel scrambled back with two runs in the top of the 5th. Burruel and JOSH GOLDEN singled and eventually scored on a double by TONY ALVAREZ.

Primed to break into the Top 10, Santana (17-6, 7-0 GNL) has posted three straight shutouts and held 12 of its 23 foes to two runs or less. The Sultans’ pitching staff has coined a 1.20 ERA for the season.

Although no such records are kept by the SDCIF or CalHiSports.com, the Sultans’ current team ERA is believed to be the lowest in Grossmont Conference history. Of course, it can’t be classified as a record yet as the season is not over.

JAMES NEEDY, Santana’s 6-foot-5, 205-pound right-hander, blanked host West Hills on four singles while striking out 7 and walking only one. That effort, which took 91 pitches to complete, hoisted Needy’s personal pitching mark to 6-2.

Santana, which also shut out West Hills (7-14, 1-5 GNL) in an earlier meeting this week, took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning in the rematch. RYAN STUTZ and CODY SMITH singled. West Hills pitcher ROBBY ROBLES then uncorked a pair of wild pitches, allowing Stutz to score. DALLAS SEIDEL’s single then brought home Smith.

Stutz got the Sultans’ offense going in again in the 3rd with a leadoff double. Smith walked and KYLE HAYES singled to load the bases. Needy then hit the first of Santana’s three sacrifice flies to make it 3-0.

In the 5th inning Stutz singled to set the Sultans’ offense in motion. Smith followed with a walk and Hayes reached base on a dropped fly ball. Seidel supplied the sacrifice fly this time.

A West Hills error gave Santana another chance in the 6th inning. ZACH BREIDT ripped a triple to score pinch runner TRAVIS REYNOLDS to make it 5-0. Breidt coasted home on KEVIN FERREIRA’s sacrifice fly.

“No question, Stutz is our catalyst, and it’s been that way for a long time,” said Santana coach JERRY HENSON. “He’s been a four-year starter for us at shortstop. He’s a true ballplayer – you can put him anywhere on the field and he’ll look good. He knows the game and how to play it.”

It was Santana’s 8th straight win.

“It was typical Needy today,” Henson said. “He got ahead of the batter and threw all three of his pitches for strikes. He’s really stingy when it comes to giving up hits.”

West Hills suffered its 3rd straight shutout. The Wolf Pack never got a runner past second base and only once did it have as many as two runners on base.

EL CAPITAN 22, EL CAJON VALLEY 3 (5 inn.) – With two outs in the top of the 1st inning El Cajon Valley caught fire in Wednesday’s (Apr. 29) Grossmont North League struggle at El Capitan.

EFREN PADILLA provided the spark with a single and raced around to third on DAVID SANCHEZ’s double. GAVIN PINAL followed with his first home run of the season into the parking lot beyond the left field fence.

“I don’t know how Pinal hit that ball… he just kinda tomahawked it off the bill of his cap,” El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY said.

After that, it was all El Capitan (12-8, 3-1 GNL) in a game that was halted after 4 ½ innings.

An RBI single by KORBIN KRUGER and a two-run double by RYAN RUSSELL keyed a six-run 1st inning for the Vaqueros, who tacked on 9 more markers in the 2nd frame.

Freshman catcher CHARLES MOORMAN keyed the 2nd inning with a grand slam. TANNER RUST’s three-run triple was the main blow in the 3rd inning when the Vaqueros generated 7 more tallies.

A dozen Vaqueros contributed to a 14-hit attack against four El Cajon Valley pitchers.

“We kept our focus and a lot of people got quality at-bats,” Vickery said.

Senior CAMERON MACKY made the most of his first varsity start, limiting El Cajon Valley (1-18, 0-4 GNL) to three runs and seven hits over four innings. He struck out six.

“He was throwing strikes and kept his composure despite the rocky start,” Vickery said.

Just where El Capitan figures in the league race will most likely be determined in the next four games when the Vaqueros play two against Santana and two against Grossmont.

© East County Sports.com
SCRIPPS RANCH (4-29-09) — In the latter stages of Tuesday’s (Apr. 28) Eastern League game at Scripps Ranch it appeared that the visiting Christian High Patriots were on their way to securing a come-from-behind win over the Falcons.

Trailing 3-1 after five innings, the Patriots scrambled back to take a 4-3 edge into the bottom of the 7th inning. Christian’s problem, which dogged the Patriots all day, was errors. They made six miscues, which handed Scripps Ranch all of its runs and eventually a 5-4 victory.

“It was a really good high school baseball game for the fans to watch,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said. “From a coach’s standpoint, it was a pull-your-hair- out game.”

Junior ERICK ALLEN did all he could to keep Christian (11-7, 2-2 EL) in the winner’s circle. He pitched six innings, scattering four hits. Allen also clubbed a solo home run with two outs in the 6th that pulled the Patriots to within 3-2.

“Erick pitched a great game,” Mitchell said “He got out of jams a couple of times. We hit the ball hard, we just didn’t make plays.”

Christian took a 4-3 advantage in the 7th. SHAUN DAY drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on MICHAEL GRUBER’s double. A walk to CODY POTEET loaded the bases for MICHAEL STOWERS, who came through with a two-run single to right.

Three consecutive errors allowed Scripps Ranch to tie the game 4-4 in the bottom of the 7th. A bases-loaded single by Drew Silveira – a ball he drove over a drawn-in outfield – gave the Falcons the nod.

Scripps Ranch (13-9, 2-4 EL) won two of three meetings from the Patriots (11-7, 2-2 EL), including 8-0 in the City Conference Tournament. The Patriots won the first round league meeting 6-2.

MISSION BAY 7, WEST HILLS 0 – The West Hills Wolf Pack might as well have stayed home rather than venture to the beach for Tuesday’s (Apr. 28) non-league encounter at Mission Bay.

Seven West Hills errors led to all of the scoring as Mission Bay claimed a 7-0 victory.

“We showed no energy, no excitement,” West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM said. “In four of the seven innings we went down 1-2-3. Nothing was hit hard, and I think we got jammed about six times. We hit 10 groundball outs and never got a runner past second base.”

Mission Bay (9-10) did most of its damage in the 3rd inning, scoring six unearned runs. The Buccaneers capitalized on two hits, three walks and three errors to break the game open in that frame.

BRENNAN TAYLOR, MICHAEL LOBAUGH and ROBBY ROBLES accounted for the Wolf Pack’s three singles.

All the news wasn’t bad for West Hills (7-13), which picked up a forfeit win from Otay Ranch. The Mustangs edged the Pack 4-2 in the Lions Tournament. That game was forfeited by Otay Ranch for the use of an ineligible player. It is not known at this time how many games Otay Ranch will have to forfeit.

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (4-28-09) — The past two Grossmont South League games between No. 9-ranked Steele Canyon and upstart Monte Vista have been bizarre to say the least.

After being flattened by the Cougars 19-0 last Friday, the Monarchs erased an 8-0 deficit in Monday’s (Apr. 27) GSL contest only to fall 9-8 in the rematch.

A 7-run 3rd inning pulled the Monarchs (5-13, 2-4 GSL) even at 8-8, but Steele Canyon first baseman BRAD BOEHMKE saved the Cougars from upset by clouting his first home run.

“I was just trying to find a gap,” said Boehmke, who doubles as Steele Canyon’s quarterback. “I got a fastball and was able to put a good swing on it.”

“He hit a bomb,” Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER said. “It was a shot.”

Boehmke’s blast extended Steele Canyon ’s winning streak to eight games in a row. The Cougars (15-4, 6-0 GSL) have won 9 of their last 10.

At the outset it did not appear that Steele Canyon would need any last inning heroics.

Cougars starting pitcher DANNY MacINTYRE broke a scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning. An RBI single by Boehmke and a 2-run double by NOLAN MURRAY made it 4-0 in the 4th.

Monte Vista fell apart in the top of the 5th, helping the Cougars score four runs on only two hits for an 8-0 lead.

“Things were going fine up until then,” Snyder said. “But after that we couldn’t find the plate.”

The comeback bid by Monte Vista in the 6th included four walks, a wild pitch, two errors and RBI singles by KEVIN STARLING, IVAN PARMA and NICK SABO.

“We had a rough time in the bottom of the 6th,” admitted Boehmke, who saw the Monarchs score seven runs with only three hits.

“We’re a lot better team than we showed in the last two innings today,” Snyder said.

On the high side, Snyder was pleased with the pitching of MacIntyre, who rationed the Monarchs to three hits and one run over 4 1/3 innings.

It was the longest pitching stint by MacIntyre since breaking his pitching hand the second week of the season.

“I can’t remember exactly how many games I told the kids we’d lost in a row to Granite Hills,” Holland said. “I just wanted to use it as motivation.”

It proved to be sound strategy as the Highlanders (12-9, 3-3 GSL) posted a wire-to-wire victory in Monday’s (Apr. 27) Grossmont South League game at Granite Hills.

ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ homered for the third game in a row – his latest a 3-run shot in the 1st inning.

“I was sitting on the fastball and I hit it to dead center, about three-quarters of the way up the batting eye (green monster in centerfield),” said the Highlanders’ Rodriguez. “When I hit it I saw their centerfielder (BRIAN CARROLL) going back. I wasn’t sure if it was going to go out until I rounded first base and heard everybody yelling.”

Rodriguez, a junior right-fielder, finished the game 2-for-4 with 4 RBI.

“Early in the year I was swinging at everything,” he said. “I’m more selective now, not doing so much chasing. I’m more patient and doing a better job of recognizing the pitches. I’ve always had the bat speed but I’m taking more quality swings. I’m a lot more calm now, whereas before I was putting pressure on myself every time I made an out.”

With Helix leading by two runs going into the bottom of the 6th, Carroll and JARED HUNT hit back-to-back singles to put the tying runs on base for Granite Hills (9-10, 4-2 GSL). Freshman DANIEL STARWALT then launched a drive to deep left-center. Starwalt’s hit had a chance to go out of the park but at the very least figured to drive in the tying runs.

Enter Helix left-fielder KEVIN SCOTT, who robbed Starwalt of a hit as he made the inning ending catch while crashing into the fence.

“That was the ballgame right there,” said Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS.

Scott, however, played down his victory-saving grab.

“It wasn’t as hard as it looked,” said Scott. “It was hit well for sure and the ball just kept carrying. I was just hoping the wind wouldn’t blow it out. I thought it was going to hit the top of the fence so I jumped up, hoping I could get a glove on it.”

And so he did.

“Once I caught it, my momentum carried me into the fence,” Scott said. “I just wanted to make sure I held onto the ball.”

Scott also contributed an RBI double in the 3rd inning which gave Helix a 4-2 lead.

“I hit that one pretty good,” said Scott. “But it still looked like he might run it down.”

Scott’s drive set the stage for a 2-run single by MAURO OLIVARRIA.

“We did a good job offensively,” Holland said. “But Scott’s catch was the key. The ball he caught was about three feet short of going out.”

Holland was pleased that the Highlanders were able to rebound from Friday’s 8-3 loss to the Eagles.

“They really punched us around at our place,” Holland said. “To come back like we did today proved that we’re worthy of playoff consideration.”

Granite Hills, which has fallen two games behind Steele Canyon in the Grossmont South, hit three home runs in a losing cause.

TYLER PONCIANO blasted a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning. Junior BRENDAN NAGER collected his first varsity hit – a 2-run homer in the 4th. DYLAN GARCIA stroked a 2-run shot in the 5th.

Despite the loss, Davis wasn’t overly upset. He praised Ponciano for “hitting a bomb,” and Nager for his pitching.

Nager, a 5-foot-10 left-hander, rationed the Highlanders to three hits and one unearned run over the last four innings.

SANTANA 9, WEST HILLS 0 – Not many teams in any part of town have a better team earned run average than do the Santana Sultans. This pitching staff is rock solid, boasting a low-water mark of 1.26.

In 11 of their 22 games, the Grossmont North League-leading Sultans (16-6, 5-0 GNL) have held the opposition to two runs or fewer. They’ve posted three shutouts, including Monday’s (Apr. 27) combination effort against visiting West Hills turned in by RYAN STUTZ and ZACH OEDEWALDT.

Santana’s overall record might be even better had early cracks in the defense not opened the gates for 33 unearned runs.

“Like I’ve said from the start, we’re a pretty good ballclub when we don’t make errors,” Santana coach JERRY HENSON said.

The Sultans had only one miscue against the Wolf Pack (6-13, 1-4 GNL).

Santana senior left fielder DALLAS SEIDEL extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his third home run and a single and a pair of walks. He’s batting at a .548 clip (17-for-31) over that stretch, with three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI and 14 runs scored.

“The first two times I went to the plate they tried to get me to chase fastballs out of the zone,” said Seidel, who walked and scored in the 1st and 3rd innings. “I was able to lay off those pitches.”

Seidel’s latest home run was a lead off shot in the 5th inning against West Hills. It came when Wolf Pack reliever CONOR BROWN tried to slip an off-speed pitch past the Santana cleanup hitter.

“He threw me a knuckleball and it hung more than it knuckled,” said Seidel, who hoisted the pitch over the right field fence giving Santana a 6-0 cushion.

KYLE HAYES clubbed his sixth home run leading off the 6th.

Seidel credits Santana assistant coach LARRY OEDEWALDT for serving up a daily dose of batting practice for the Sultans.

“Hitting live in practice is so much better than hitting off the machine,” said Seidel. “For his age I’m surprised how well Coach Oedewaldt throws. He’s able to emulate the style of the pitcher we’re going to face in our next game. He throws a lot of breaking balls and does a nice job of changing speeds.”

CHRIS ALLEN accounted for two of West Hills’ three hits.

EL CAPITAN 13, EL CAJON VALLEY 4 – Senior KORBIN KRUGER hasn’t had the kind of season he expected for his senior year. But the 6-foot, 207-pound third baseman came out swinging in Monday’s (Apr. 27) Grossmont North League game at El Cajon Valley.

Kruger singled and scored in the 1st inning, cracked a 2-run homer in the 3rd, knocked a 3-run homer in the 5th and was hit by a pitch and scored in the 6th.

“It’s been awhile,” said Kruger, who raised his season average to .373 (25-for-67). “All year I’ve been struggling, trying too hard to do too much. My head was moving around too much and I wasn’t putting the barrel on anything. And it wasn’t like I wasn’t taking batting practice, because I was.”

Kruger’s finally found his comfort zone.

“The last couple of games I’ve played a lot like my old self,” he added. “I’m more relaxed, more confident and into the game. I think I’m doing a better job defensively at third base and when I’m able to do that it seems to help my hitting.”

El Capitan (11-8, 2-1 GNL) took the early lead when TANNER RUST ripped a long home run to right centerfield. Kruger kept the inning alive with a 2-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He scored on a base hit by KYLE MILLS.

El Cajon Valley (1-17, 0-3 GNL), which hasn’t won a game since March 10th, rebounded to take a 3-2 lead.

ABEL CERVANTES provided the spark with a double in the bottom of the 1st. NERLIN CARREON singled to left to put runners at the corner. Cervantes scored when EFREN PADILLA hit into a force out.

After DAVID SANCHEZ was hit by a pitch, GAVINO PINAL doubled down the left field line to score Padilla. Sanchez scored the go-ahead run on a groundout by BRENT HARRIS.

“We played better today,” said El Cajon Valley coach MIKE RUPP. “We hung with them for five innings, but our inexperience really hurt us down the stretch. We just made too many mistakes.”

El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY admitted that he was concerned as the Braves maintained their lead into the 3rd inning.

“You better believe I was nervous,” Vickery said.

The Vaqueros regained the lead in the 3rd inning when Rust singled to left and Kruger homered to left center.

An inning later El Capitan extended its advantage on a sacrifice fly by BRIAN WILSON and an RBI-triple by TYRONE WIGGINS.

Kruger’s 3-run homer in the 5th put the game away.

El Cajon Valley’s hardluck starting pitcher Padilla slugged a booming solo home run in the bottom of the 5th but it was too little, too late.

For good measure the Vaqueros got an RBI double by CHARLES MOORMAN and a 2-run single by CRAIG LEAVITT in the 6th.

MATT GONZALES provided the spark for Valhalla, driving in four runs with a pair of doubles.

JOHN AGUIRRE-RUIZ also drove in three runs with a double and a single.

The Norsemen totaled 15 hits, including five doubles as they scored a season high.

“It was nice to see that we were able to keep the bats going today,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. "We did a good job of executing today throughout the lineup.”

Actually this was a come-from-behind effort as the Matadors (16-13, 1-5 GSL) broke a scoreless tie on RUDDY ACOSTA’s 2-run double in the 3rd.

Acosta’s good fortune did not carry over to the mound. In the bottom of the 3rd Valhalla scored six runs. The key blow in that frame was a 3-run double by Matt Gonzales. Aguirre-Ruiz slapped a two-run single.

Lapses in the Mount Miguel defense helped Valhalla ring up three unearned runs for a 6-2 advantage.

Valhalla produced eight runs in the 4th inning. JOSH AUSTEL’s 2-run single was the key blow.

Once again the Matadors chipped in with two costly errors.

Winning pitching pitcher DANNY HAWKSLEY also singled in a run and scored in the 4th. He finished 2-for-4 in the game and fired a 4-hitter over six innings to run his pitching record to 3-2.

"Danny pitched a good game,” said Wilson. “He struggled for a bit at first, but really did a good job of settling in to take control of the game.”

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-26-09) — It was vintage Grossmont High baseball in the second game of Saturday’s (Apr. 25) non-league doubleheader against visiting Mission Bay at Joe Gizoni Field.

The Foothillers broke loose for a season-high three home runs while CONOR MEREDITH and AARON GRIFFIN combined to no-hit the Buccaneers in an 11-0 Grossmont victory.

The win gave Grossmont (13-8) a split of the twinbill and halted the Foothillers’ three-game losing steak. Mission Bay (8-10) won the opener 4-3.

Meredith, who twirled the opening four innings of the nightcap to earn his first pitching decision, powered his fourth home run of the season with LEVI STEVENS (single) on board in the 2nd. Meredith batted in a third run with a sacrifice fly in the 4th.

Griffin contributed a pair of hits – one a double – in addition to pitching three hitless frames. He earned his second save, striking out 4 in the process.

Grossmont’s EVAN POTTER reached base six times in nine trips to the plate. Officially, he was 3-for-5 plus two walks. He also was hit by a pitch and stole a base.

Etherton was 3-for-4 in the opener.

The Hillers had their chance in the first game, but stranded 8 base-runners in the final three innings. They left the bases loaded in the 6th and 7th.

Grossmont wasted a complete-game pitching performance by NICK GASPAR, who scattered six hits, allowed 3 earned runs and struck out 6.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 7, GUAJOME PARK 0 (forfeit) – For the second time this season, Foothills Christian (8-4, 4-2 CWL) received a forfeit Citrus West League victory from Guajome Park Academy when the Frogs failed to appear Saturday (Apr. 25) at Stars Field on the Barona Indian Reservation.

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (4-25-09) — West Hills High senior ROBBY ROBLES provided some much needed relief for the Wolf Pack, albeit in a starting role.

The right-hander scattered just five hits, finishing strong by retiring the final 10 batters he faced in succession in a complete-game effort to stop visiting El Capitan, 8-1, in Friday's (Apr. 24) Grossmont North League game.

"We knew their guys were beatable," said Robles, "We just needed to take it as hard as we could at them."

Robles needed a mere 74 pitches to subdue the Vaqueros (10-8, 1-1 GNL).

“That was vintage Robles, right there,” West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM said. “That’s the kind of effort we need if we’re going to go anywhere this season.”

Robles was also aided by third baseman ANDREW MOHRE, who may have played the defensive game of his life.

Included among Mohre's three defensive gems was a diving grab of a low line drive, then applying a sweeping tag to double-off the baserunner in his proximity to end the 3rd inning.

"After the catch, I started to trip," Mohre recalled. "So I reached out with my glove to get him out, and it worked."

Mohre later snared another El Capitan liner to close the 4th. He then hit the dirt to corral a hot grounder, making the throw for the first out of the 5th.

"TYRONE WIGGINS hit a shot at my head -- it was all I could do to catch it."

Obviously, Robles welcomed the glove-work behind him.

"He made a bad-ass, diving play that pretty much saved a double -- he did a great job," said Robles on Mohre's unassisted double play. "The defense bent down and did what they needed to do to help me out."

Miscues on defense allowed El Capitan to rally late in the first game of the home-and-home series. And signs of a repeat performance seemed in the offing when a 1st-inning error allowed the Vaqueros to open the scoring on a KYLE MILLS sacrifice fly to bring home Wiggins.

However, the unearned run would be the lone tally against Robles after the Wolf Pack defense picked up its game.

"The intensity was great today -- we kept it loud and played with greater intensity,” added Mohre. "We made some plays, Robbie threw a gem, and we got some hits at the right time."

Robles also deposited the first key hit with the lone extra-base hit by either ballclub. In the 2nd, he stroked a 2-run double to score TONY SPEARS (hit by pitch) and COLE BUDVARSON (safe on error) to grab a 2-1 lead.

Spears later singled home catcher MICHAEL LOBAUGH in the 3rd. West Hills (6-12, 1-3 GNL) then added four more markers in the 4th, the first two coming home on a bases-loaded single by SAM LINDAHL.

Lobaugh and right fielder BRENNAN TAYLOR also collect an RBI each.

The victory snapped the Pack's 4-game losing streak. West Hills has won only two of its last 10 games.

El Capitan has fallen on hard times as well, losing four of its last five games.

“We had an opportunity early in the game to get ahead,” said Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY. “We just didn’t deliver a big hit. We are struggling to get a big hit at the right time. It’s a bunch of little things that are getting us right now.”

MOUNT MIGUEL 13, VALHALLA 12 – Having gone nearly 30 innings without scoring, the Mount Miguel Matadors erupted for five runs in the 1st inning of Friday’s (Apr. 24) Grossmont South League game in Spring Valley.

But the Matadors needed four runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to pull out their first league win in five decisions.

JULIAN CHARLES was the man of the hour for Mount Miguel. The junior middle infielder singled in RUDDY ACOSTA from second base with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, giving Mount Miguel (6-12, 1-4 GSL) the come-from-behind victory.

“I was looking for anything that I could put in play,” said Charles, who also had a 2-run double in the 4th inning. “It was a fastball down the middle. When I hit the ball to left I wasn’t sure it was going to drop so I put my head down and just ran hard. Just before I reached second base (after Acosta scored the winning run) the whole team came out and mobbed me.”

No doubt it was an electric atmosphere for Mount Miguel, which has struggled since reaching the semifinals in the Lions Tournament.

Charles finished 3-for-4 against Valhalla (5-14, 1-4 GSL).

“The coach has been working with me on my swing,” Charles said. “I’m just looking to hit the ball where it’s pitched now. We are playing with a lot of tenacity lately. It was a big win for us. In this league all wins are big.”

Mount Miguel collected 12 hits against two Valhalla pitchers.

TONY ALVAREZ drilled 2-run singles in both the 1st and 7th innings – the latter blow tying the game 12-12. Acosta was also 2-for-4, including a 2-run double in the 4th.

“We won this game by not giving up,” said Mount Miguel coach BYRON GRIGSBY. “The guys kinda believed in themselves. I challenge them each day and my challenge now is to make a last minute run for the playoffs. It would be a Cinderella season.”

Alvarez, one of East County ’s best defensive catchers, made a rare appearance on the mound in the 7th inning. He surrendered an unearned run but wound up the winning pitcher.

“Alvarez used to pitch when he was young, in Little League, his mom told me today,” said Grigsby. “He and (former Matador) DAVID WYNN were on the same team and one would pitch and one would catch, and then they would flip-flop.”

Mount Miguel also welcomed back a familiar face.

“We have (senior infielder) LUCAS GOLDEN back with us now,” Grigsby said. “It turned into a whole different game for us – the atmosphere and everything.”

Despite dropping behind early Valhalla didn’t fold. The Norsemen garnered 14 hits, including three apiece by WILL COOMBS and CISCO TELLEZ. Coombs drove in four runs with a pair of triples.

“Those guys at Valhalla just kept hitting,” Grigsby remarked.

The Norsemen tied the game 9-9 with five runs in the 5th. Coombs keyed that rally with his second 2-run triple and scored on a double by MATT GONZALES.

ANTHONY GONZALES and DANNY HAWKSLEY also had RBI singles in that frame.

Valhalla stormed in front on an RBI double by Tellez in the 7th inning. Tellez later scored on a balk, and the Matadors presented the Norsemen an additional run on a wild pitch. But the Norsemen defense went south in the bottom of the inning.

“We swung the bats well today,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “Scored 12 and left 13 on base. We just need to have everything click at the same time. Not getting that right now.”

Valhalla reliever NINO TUTINO did not allow an earned run over the final 3 1/3 innings yet was tagged with the loss.

“Nino did a really good job in relief and didn't deserve to get the loss today,” said Wilson.

SANTANA 2, GROSSMONT 0 – Such things are always open to debate, but Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY is among those who believe that Santana’s JAMES NEEDY and KYLE HAYES give the Sultans the best 1-2 pitching punch in the San Diego CIF.

Hayes, a junior right-hander, blanked the Foothillers on a 2-hitter in Friday’s (Apr. 24) Grossmont North League game in Santee.

“Hayes didn’t have his best stuff,” Earley said. “But he still was dominating.”

Grossmont (12-7, 2-2 GNL) mustered only five hits and did not score an earned run against Santana’s Needy and Hayes. Credit RYAN STUTZ for 2/3 of an inning during that 14 inning period.

“Going against pitchers like Santana has puts you in an instant slump,” Earley said. “I think this is one of the better Santana teams I’ve seen in my 15 years as a coach.”

Santana (15-6, 4-0 GNL) has taken a 2-game lead one-third of the way through the league season.

The Sultans scored all the runs they would need when CODY SMITH lined a 1-2 pitch over the right-centerfield fence with one out in the 1st inning. A pair of two-out walks and a double by ZACH BREIDT extended Santana’s lead to 2-0 in the 3rd inning.

Defense, which has been a Santana shortcoming most of the season, played a key role in the Sultans’ latest victory.

“Breidt made a nice diving catch behind second base on a MARK VASQUEZ pop-up,” said Santana coach JERRY HENSON. “And Smith caught a line drive in centerfield and threw a laser to second base to double the guy off.”

Hayes needed 92 pitches to log his third complete game while lowering his ERA to 0.66.

“Hayes did a nice job on the hill,” Henson said. “He didn’t have his best stuff but he’s a fighter – he battled through it.”

Grossmont’s offense consisted of singles by CODY SOS and ALEX OHLSON.

The Foothillers received solid pitching from STEVEN BRAULT and CRAIG SOGGIE-HENDERSON.

“I guess this shows that we’re no dead yet,” said Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS whose Eagles are only one game behind GSL-leading Steele Canyon.

The Eagles (9-9, 4-1 GSL) took a 7-0 lead, scoring five times in the 3rd inning to back the 3-hit complete game pitching of freshman right-hander DANIEL STARWALT (3-0).

“Starwalt did a real good job,” Davis said of his 6-foot-2, 173-pound yearling. “He competed on the mound – he just got after it.”

JARED HUNT ignited the Granite Hills offense with a 2-run double in the 3rd inning. Ditto for Starwalt, who made it 4-0. DEAN MILLER capped the early uprising with a run-scoring double of his own. TYLER PONCIANO’s RBI single completed a 2-run 6th inning.

Helix (11-9, 2-3 GSL), which had won six of its previous eight encounters, got off the floor in the bottom of the 5th.

In fact all of the Highlanders’ hits and runs came in that inning. ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ hit a lead home run to left field. KEVIN SCOTT followed with a single, and AUSTIN GONZALEZ pounded a 2-run homer over the left-field fence.

After that brief barrage Starwalt restored order and sailed through the 6th and 7th innings.

“We played with energy and excitement about playing the game of baseball today,” Dave said. “It was a nice little comeback for us.”

STEELE CANYON 19, MONTE VISTA 0 – The forge is hot and Steele Canyon is virtually melting the opposition.

DANNY MacINTYRE and DUSTIN DEGLER drove in five runs apiece as the Cougars clobbered visiting Monte Vista in a Grossmont South League game Friday (Apr. 24) in Rancho San Diego.

The lopsided victory, which featured a 21-hit assault on three Monte Vista pitchers, stretched Steele Canyon’s winning streak to seven straight and marked the Cougars’ eighth win in their last nine starts.

“There was a little problem early on that we didn’t play to our expectations,” Cougars’ coach TODD SNYDER said. “We just feel now that we want to come out with a killer instinct every time, no matter who we are playing.”

Monte Vista (5-12, 2-3 GSL) was coming off an impressive 17-3 romp over Granite Hills on Wednesday (Apr. 22). But the No. 9-ranked Cougars (14-4, 5-0 GSL) were prepared, scoring in five of their six turns at-bat.

Three times the Cougars batted around.

MacIntyre singled and scored on Degler’s sacrifice fly in the opening inning. A grand slam by MacIntyre and RBI singles by Degler and BRAD BOEHMKE made it 7-0 after two frames.

MacIntyre produced three hits and accounted for nine runs. Degler was 3-for-3 with a pair of sacrifice flies.

“The game got a little out of hand early, but it allowed people to get extra at-bats,” Snyder said. “I know we cleared our bench. That’s what strengthens the team chemistry near the end of the year. If we played nothing but close games where we stick with our same nine day-in and day-out, you can have some separation there.”

And the Steele Canyon reserves did contribute. The biggest blast was by KRAMER WEED, who launched a three-run home run to cap a six-run 6th inning.

“That’s a ball that he definitely hit well,” Snyder said of Weed. “They put it in the wrong spot and he turned on it.”

It was the second time this season that Steele Canyon has tallied 19 runs in a game. The Cougars also clawed to a 19-8 romp over Bakersfield Liberty in the Lions Tournament earlier this month.

“This is a good group of kids; we enjoy being out here,” Snyder said. “They like each other so that helps. I feel like we are pretty fortunate to have so many things going our way.”

Steele Canyon's run total is the most by the school since scoring 23 times in a 23-2 whipping of Mount Miguel on Apr. 22, 2005.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-24-09) — Hitting with runners in scoring position had become a glaring shortcoming over the past seven games for the Christian High Patriots.

According to the calculations of coach MIKE MITCHELL, the Patriots were batting a paltry .152. They’d had plenty of scoring chances, too.

“We were 10-for-66 coming into this game,” Mitchell noted. Yet, the Patriots had maintained a 4-3 record during that stretch.

Christian left another runner in scoring position in the 1st inning of Thursday’s (Apr. 23) Eastern League game against visiting Scripps Ranch. After that, however, they were 4-for-4, including 3-for-3 during a five-run 6th inning that produced a 6-2 victory.

“I began to wonder if we’d ever start hitting in the clutch again,” Mitchell said. “It was putting pressure on our pitchers, leaving them little margin for error.”

Through 4 1/3 innings the Patriots (11-6, 2-1 EL) generated only one base runner against Falcons’ pitcher Phillip Walby. JOSH WOLFSON singled to left and stole second with one out in the opening frame. Walby then set down 12 Patriots in a row, logging seven of his eight strikeouts in the process.

Walby then made a mistake, hitting pitching-counterpart CODY POTEET with a one-out fastball in the 5th inning. Mistake No. 2, Walby served up a wild pitch sending Poteet to 2nd.

ERICK ALLEN followed with a ground ball single to left, bringing Poteet home to knot the score 1-1.

“That seemed to pop the lid off,” Mitchell mused.

Whatever it did, the Patriots’ fortunes improved greatly an inning later. Good thing, because the Falcons had taken a 2-1 edge on Tyler Morris’ home run in the top of the 6th.

Consecutive one-out singles by SHAUN DAY, Wolfson, TAYLOR EICHHORST and MICHAEL GRUBER tied the game and left the bases loaded. MICHAEL STOWERS tabbed a roller to shortstop. The Falcons got a force out at second, but the relay to first base for an attempted double play went array. Two Patriots scored on the play.

Cody Poteet put the game on ice with a two-run shot over the right-center field fence. It was Poteet’s fifth home run of the season.

“It was a fastball over the outer half and I just went with it,” Poteet said of his opposite field home run.

Poteet was powerful as a pitcher, too, scattering 5 hits while striking out 8 and walking 5 in a complete-game performance.

“He’s got the tools to be something special,” Mitchell said of the freshman right-hander. “His composure on the mound is very good. He’s played at such a high level that he does not get rattled easily.”

Mitchell was referring to Poteet’s playing for the Team USA Under-14 squad last summer in Guatemala.

“Obviously, he has a lot more experience than guys his age,” Mitchell said. “What most people don’t realize is he actually does a lot of good things with the bat.”

Poteet is a complete player who is only going to get better. He could be one of East County ’s great ones by the time he’s through.

Mitchell also recognized the work of Gruber, his three-year starter at catcher.

“He takes a beating behind the plate, blocking balls in the dirt,” the coach said. “The main thing is our pitchers trust him, aren’t afraid to throw breaking balls in the dirt.”

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (4-23-09) — Monte Vista coach BRANDON ROGERS did some tinkering with the Monarchs batting order before Wednesday’s (Apr. 22) Grossmont South League game at Granite Hills.

Most glaring of Rogers’ maneuvers was moving senior center fielder TOMMY DEMARS from No. 9 into the leadoff spot. Then after hoisting Demars to the top, he shoved the remaining Monte Vista starters down one peg apiece.

Sheer brilliance on Rogers’ part. Or so it turns out.

Demars went 5-for-5 with two runs and two RBI in leading Monte Vista to a stunning 17-3 rout of the befuddled Eagles.

“I feel comfortable at the top of the order,” said Demars, who now is batting at a .459 clip (17 for 37). “It’s nice to be able to be a table setter, like I was today.”

Demars had a hit in four of Monte Vista’s run-scoring innings against the Eagles (8-9, 3-1 GSL).

“I like to be in the middle of things,” Demars added. “No question, this is big win for us.”

Monte Vista ’s ADAM TIMANUS was dropped from first to third in the batting order.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like batting first,” confessed Timanus, who was 3-for-5 with 5 RBI. “But Tommy and IVAN (PARMA) did a good job of getting on base a lot. That gave me more opportunities to drive in runs.”

As lop-sided as the score wound up the Monarchs (5-11, 2-2) actually had to come from behind.

Granite Hills took the early lead on a 2-run single by NATHANIEL HUFF in the 2nd inning.

Monte Vista countered with three runs in the top of the 3rd, sparked by Timanus’ RBI single.

The Monarchs broke the game open in the 6th inning on singles by KEVIN STARLING and Demars, followed by Timanus’ 3rd home run of the season. That gave Monte Vista a 9-3 advantage.

“My home run came off a letter-high fastball,” Timanus said. “I put a good swing on it and hit a line drive over the left field fence.”

The Monarchs turned the game into a laugher with 8 unearned runs in the 7th inning. The wheels came off the Granite Hills defense about then as the Eagles committed all four of their errors in that frame.

“Probably the worst game I’ve ever coached at Granite Hills,” lamented coach JAMES DAVIS, who has been at the Eagles’ helm for nine seasons.

Monte Vista ’s Starling was 3-for-4 with three runs scored.

“We needed to win this game to show people that we’re going to be in the league race,” Starling said. “Personally, it felt good to be in the middle of the action.”

Not to be overlooked was Monarchs sophomore NICK SABO, who slugged a 2-run homer and pitched a complete game victory.

“Sabo pitched a strong game today,” said Starling, the Monarchs junior second baseman. “When our pitchers are in control we play better defense and for some reason hit the ball better. As a group I think we were seeing the ball pretty well today.”

Timanus believes Monte Vista has turned the corner and is now a bona fide contender.

“I think we’re gonna be a part of this race all season,” he said.

Eagles freshman DANIEL STARWALT hammered his 4th home run of the season and JARED HUNT continued his torrid hitting with a pair of doubles.

EL CAPITAN 5, WEST HILLS 4 — The purported "second season" would benefit one of two struggling ballclubs which would both rather forget about the opening weeks of the baseball season.

Such a fresh approach already bypassed West Hills, which dropped its opening pair of Grossmont North League contests. But El Capitan had a bye to begin GNL play, so its second chance officially began Wednesday (Apr. 22). And the Vaqueros gladly accepted an extra opportunity to score the winning runs.

Following an error which loaded the bases, CRAIG LEAVITT pounded the very next pitch off the left-field bank at Hostetler Field, delivering a 2-run, walk-off basehit in the Vaqueros' 5-4 triumph over the Wolf Pack.

"It was a hanging curveball," said Leavitt, a senior first baseman. "He started me out every at-bat with a curveball, so I just sat on one – waited for something up there I could drive."

Erased from the El Capitan ledger was a 4-game losing streak and a mediocre 9-7 start to the season. It's now replaced with a 1-0 start in league to join Santana as the lone remaining undefeated ballclubs in the GNL standings.

"We've been struggling of late," added Leavitt. "But when we get an opportunity like that, we're not going to struggle anymore."

Leavitt's occasion to shine followed a potential double play grounder which would've given West Hills the victory. However, a slight bobble fielding the ball ruined the play's timing, as the ball was eventually dropped at second base.

"He definitely dropped the ball," noted KORBIN KRUGER, who was safe at second base, then scored the winning run on the next pitch. "I saw the ball off the bat and I knew it was dropping."

"We wanted to end our losing streak pretty bad and now we want this league championship."

The late rally ruined a strong pitching performance by Wolf Pack senior BRENNAN TAYLOR, who only allowed a pair of earned runs. Taylor struck out six.

Meanwhile, El Capitan rode the arm of 6-foot-4 freshman TROY CONYERS. The left-hander, who turned 15 less than two weeks ago, was also victimized by an error when West Hills scored three times in the 4th inning to tie the contest. Otherwise, Conyers again established his position as the Vaqueros' top pitcher for years to come.

"He's just stepped into our ace role -- I can't wait to see that kid as a senior," noted Leavitt. "Then the next guy, (reliever) ANTHONY VIGIL, has been coming in every single game and stopping them."

After Conyers allowed the first team batters to reach in the 6th, Vigil shut the door by registering three outs on just two pitches. The first was a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, but the next Wolf Pack bunt was softly lined back at Vigil, who made the catch and then doubled-off the runner at third base.

But West Hills struck back in the 7th to break the tie, thanks to the team's fifth stolen base of the contest.

No. 9 hitter DAVID BRYAN accepted a lead walk, stole second, then moved to third on a ground ball to the right side by CHRIS ALLEN. Bryan scored on a line single to center by senior SAM LINDAHL.

Both teams scored three quick runs due to mishaps by the opposing defense.

In the 3rd, after catcher CHARLES MOORMAN singled home TANNER RUST, an error set-up a 2-run double by KYLE MILLS.

West Hills answered with three in the 4th.

A surprising sacrifice bunt by Wolf Pack clean-up batter COLE BUDVARSON placed two runners in scoring position, as Lindahl and Taylor came home on consecutive run-scoring basehits by MICHAEL LOBAUGH and TONY SPEARS.

With runners on the corners, Spears took off for second and allowed himself to get into a rundown. Lobaugh then sprinted for home and beat the throw to tie it at 3-all.

Allen and Taylor each went 2-for-4 among the Pack's seven hits, For the Vaqueros, leadoff batter TYRONE WIGGINS matched Rust and Leavitt with two hits each.

SANTANA 11, GROSSMONT 1 — Santana senior first baseman DALLAS SEIDEL leads East County with six game-winning RBI. The Sultans cleanup hitter has provided four of those clutch hits in the last four games.

It was Seidel’s 2-run homer that sparked the Sultans’ 7-run 4th inning in Wednesday’s (Apr. 22) Grossmont North League game at Joe Gizoni Field.

“I’ll tell you what, at the beginning of the season we looked around and wondered ‘Do we have a 4-hitter?’” Santana coach JERRY HENSON recalled. “And Dallas has been in there since Day One. And he’s probably not gonna move.”

Seidel, who was 2-for-4 with a double against the Foothillers (12-6, 2-1 GNL), is batting at a .492 clip (30-for-61) with 22 RBI.

“He’s done just a tremendous job and he was only a part-time player last year,” Henson said. “I don’t think we had him in the lineup that often when he was a junior. But he’s a lot more confident player this year.”

Seidel followed a walk to KYLE HAYES with a towering shot over the right field porch at Grossmont to make it 2-0.

“It was a hanging breaking ball and I got ahold of it,” Seidel said.

So prominent was Seidel’s home run drive that he stood at the plate and raised his right arm in the air in an impromptu celebration. That tended to rile the Grossmont faithful.

“I put my fist up because I was excited. I wasn’t trying to show anybody up,” Seidel said.

Nonetheless, the next pitch by Grossmont starter LEVI STEVENS hit Santana pitcher JAMES NEEDY in the back. Things could have gotten out of hand at that point but both teams kept a lid on it.

“It’s just part of the game,” Seidel said of Stevens’ plunking of Needy.

In fact, no other batters on either team were hit after that.

The Sultans (14-6, 3-0 GNL) won the game in the 4th inning. Sophomore CHRIS CARMADA cracked a 2-run double and RYAN STUTZ slammed a 3-run homer off the scoreboard in left-centerfield. After that the Sultans were silent offensively until two outs in the 7th inning.

Hayes relit the offensive flame with a long home run to right-centerfield. Seidel doubled and scored on a pinch single by CAMERON BALOUGH. PRESTON CULVER kept things rolling with a double. ZACH BREIDT singled to score pinch runner CORY HOSFORD. A Grossmont error handed Santana its final run.

Needy, who has committed to USD, attracts as many professional baseball scouts as any player in the San Diego Section when he pitches.

A half-dozen pro organizations were represented at Wednesday’s game. The consensus among the scouts was Needy was hitting 91-to-93 mph with his fastball. The 6-foot-5 right-hander also had a wicked slider and changeup.

“I found the groove early and everything was working until that last inning,” Needy said. “I had great defense behind me and that makes the job a lot easier.”

Needy, who pitched six innings in Saturday’s (Apr. 18) sweep of St. Augustine, was overpowering in the first six frames at Grossmont. He needed only 74 pitches to blank the Hillers on two hits during that stretch. He ran out of gas in the final frame, allowing two walks and a base hit.

But it was Santana’s only error of the afternoon that cost Needy the shutout.

Stutz came on to finish the job, serving up a game-ending double-play ball.

“I heard that they weren’t that good a fielding team,” said Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY. “But I didn’t see that today because they made every play against us. And we just didn’t do a whole lot of things right.”

With the triumph, the Sultans snapped a 7-game losing streak to the Hillers.

STEELE CANYON 10, VALHALLA 3 — It’s gradually becoming more into focus just which is East County ’s best team.

The No. 9-ranked Steele Canyon Cougars (13-4, 4-0 GSL) are on a roll. They’ve won seven of their last eight and six in a row.

Coach TODD SNYDER’s squad built a 10-0 lead by the 6th inning in Wednesday’s (Apr. 22) Grossmont South League encounter at Valhalla.

After BRAD BOEHMKE put Steele Canyon in front 1-0 with an RBI single in the 1st inning, sophomore catcher JESSE JENNER clubbed a three-run home run in the 4th. NOLAN MURRAY also drove in a run with a base hit in the 4th frame.

The Cougars’ CLAYTON ROYER ripped a three-run homer in the 6th.

ANDREW BELLATTI turned in another powerful five innings, striking out nine and allowing just three hits. The Steele Canyon right-hander hiked his record to 5-2. STEVEN SLADEK allowed only three hits over the final two frames but was victimized by lack of defensive support.

This was a sloppily played game as each team committed five errors. All of Valhalla ’s runs were unearned. One of Steele Canyon ’s tallies was tainted.

HELIX 6, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 — Helix’s JAKE REED destroyed the visiting Mount Miguel Matadors in Wednesday’s (Apr. 22) Grossmont South League game.

A 6-foot, 155-pound sophomore, Reed fired a complete-game 3-hitter. He walked none and struck out 11.

“Reed had good command of his pitches,” Helix coach COLE HOLLAND said. “This is the second game in a row that Reed has thrown extremely well.”

His latest effort enabled Reed to lower his ERA to 2.21.

Reed also was a major contributor at the plate. He accounted for three RBI when the Highlanders broke the game open with four runs in the 6th.

Mount Miguel ace RUDDY ACOSTA was the hard luck loser.

“Acosta is always tough and knew that this was going to be a tough game,” Holland said.

The Highlanders (11-8, 2-2 GSL) got to Acosta early as ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ followed a walk to KEVIN SCOTT with his first varsity home run in the 2nd inning.

Mount Miguel has failed to score in its first four league games. The Matadors (5-12, 0-4 GSL) have been shut out in five of their last six games and seven times this season.

Both teams played error-free defense.

© East County Sports.com
BARONA INDIAN RESERVATION (4-22-09) — You have to believe that Foothills Christian has a future in baseball.

Sophomore J.R. ATTERBURY and freshman A.J. HOFFMAN combined to pitch a 5-hit shutout at Vista Calvary Christian in Tuesday’s (Apr. 21) Citrus League West action as the Knights (7-4, 3-2 CLW) prevailed 9-0 at Stars Field.

“We’ve had very good practices the last few times out,” Foothills Christian coach STEVE PERDUE said. “And then today we had one of our best pregame warm-ups. All that carried over to the game.”

Perdue was obviously pleased with the Knights’ pitching.

“On top of that we played our best defensive game of the season,” Perdue said. “We had guys diving for balls, giving the extra effort. We hustled out fly balls and picked up two or three bases by pure hustle.

BRANDON JAROSIN was 3-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Knights offensively. JOE CANTOR and Atterbury added two hits apiece to the Foothills Christian totals.

“Honestly, this was a team win,” Perdue stated.

It took only one hour and 40 minutes to tuck the victory away.

MORSE 3, CHRISTIAN 1 – Senior SHAUN DAY came to play. Too bad the same cannot be said for the majority of his Christian High teammates.

The visiting Patriots (10-6, 1-1 EL), who had a chance to maintain a slight lead in the Eastern League race, provided little offense to support the pitching of MICHAEL POTEET and TAYLOR EICHHORST in Tuesday’s (Apr. 21) loss to the Tigers at Morse.

“We were more lethargic today than we were yesterday,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said (in Monday’s 8-7 win over Morse). “We hit one ball hard. I have no idea what happened to us. We had no emotion, no intensity. If we play like this the rest of the year, we will not win another game.”

“Morse scored a run in the 1st without a hit – we walked the leadoff guy. And in the 4th they scored again without a hit, on another leadoff walk. Leadoff walks killed us.”

Day, batting in the leadoff position, collected two singles and a double in four at-bats. He singled, stole second and third and scored on MICHAEL GRUBER’s ground out in the 1st inning.

Other than that, Christian’s offense consisted of a pinch single by ERICK ALLEN.

“We were 0-for-7 today with runners in scoring position,” Mitchell moaned. “They played little ball and we didn’t.”

The Tigers (7-10, 2-2 EL) were limited to five hits and two earned runs by Poteet and Eichhorst.

But remember, it's a dry heat
Games go on despite 'serious' tempertures

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (04-21-09) — Temperatures in East County pushed into three digits Monday (Apr. 20), with mercury readings ranging as high as 102 degrees.

It was a season high for heat and tested the 11 teams that returned to the classroom following spring break. The weather clearly had an effect on the ballplayers, but the games went on as scheduled.

“The kids on both teams were more lethargic than usual,” said Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL as the Patriots hosted Morse in their Eastern League opener. “You couldn’t escape the heat. It was a matter of adjusting to it. We had plenty of water, Gatorade and wet towels for the kids. And the fans took up every inch of shade in the bleachers and under the trees.”

Mitchell added that this game was a bigger challenge because this was the first game played in “serious heat.”

“Kids in this area learn to deal with it,” Mitchell said. “It’s hot here every summer and the kids are playing baseball somewhere.”

Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS played his high school baseball at El Centro’s Central Union in the Imperial Valley. He was a pitcher and a catcher for the Spartans.

“This was a hot miserable day,” said Davis, whose Eagles played at Grossmont South League rival Monte Vista. “I think it affects the pitchers and catchers more than some of the others because they are involved in every pitch. It just drains you physically and that tends to affect you mentally.”

Davis said he reminded his players about the American soldiers in Iraq.

“What those guys are enduring is real heat – 120 degrees and wearing body armor,” the coach noted. “I think my guys realize the situation. They stayed focused on the game at hand and didn’t let the heat disrupt their concentration.”

Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY, whose Foothillers were hosting West Hills in a Grossmont North League, had some thoughts on the hot weather.

“It was scorching hot, so we did some things differently,” Earley said. “We used a designated hitter for our starting pitcher, which we usually do not do. And we took an abbreviated (pregame) infield.”

Helix’s COLE HOLLAND said he welcomed the hot weather that greeted his Highlanders when they traveled to Spring Valley to take on Grossmont South League foe Mount Miguel.

“I remember a week ago when we played the (GSL opening) doubleheader at Steele Canyon,” Holland recalled. “I was freezing out there. This was more like baseball weather. I like the heat.”

Oh well, to each their own opinion.

HELIX 9, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 – Helix junior right-hander DYLAN NICKERSON, who was knocked out of the box after surrendering 8 runs in the 1st inning of last week’s Grossmont South League opener, regained his regular season form Monday (Apr. 20) as he fired a 1-hit shutout against the Matadors at Mount Miguel.

Nickerson (4-1) carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning before the Matadors’ RUDY BURRUEL broke the spell with a bloop single over the head of shortstop BENNY GUERRERO with one out.

Nickerson faced only 24 batters – the others reached on a walk and an error. He struck out 11 as he posted his fourth complete game in six starts.

“I know it sounds strange, but when Nickerson got roughed up last week it made him a better pitcher today,” Holland said. “Every pitcher has to experience a bad day once in a while. He came back strong today, throwing three pitches for strikes.”

Nickerson needed 85 pitches to blank the Matadors (5-11, 0-3 GSL).

Holland credited sophomore catcher AUSTIN GONZALEZ for his defensive work behind the plate.

“Austin called a great game,” Holland said. “(Assistant coach MIKE) MILLER is always in his ear about what to do and Austin now calls about 90 percent of the pitches.”

ANTHONY DIAZ was the main cog in the Helix offense, making contributions in three of the Highlanders five scoring innings. He slammed a solo home run in the 3rd, singled, stole second and scored on a throwing error in the 5th and plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the 6th.

KEVIN SCOTT followed a double by ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ with an RBI single giving Helix the edge in the 2nd inning. MAURO OLIVARRIA hit a run-scoring single in the 6th and BRONSON RUNIONS plated a pair with a single in the 7th.

The No. 9 ranked Cougars (12-4, 3-0 GSL) charged to a
7-2 lead in Monday’s (Apr. 20) Grossmont South League game against visiting Valhalla and relied on nifty relief work by senior DANNY MacINTYRE to turn back the Norsemen (5-12, 1-2 GSL).

MacIntyre pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief to save the victory for starter NATHAN O’TOOLE (3-0).

“O’Toole threw very well today – he’s a warrior out there,” said Cougars coach TODD SNYDER. “Every game that he has pitched in we have won. Sometimes he’s effectively wild. He’s a very good pitcher – we’re just trying to limit the number of free passes that he gives up.”

O’Toole held Valhalla to five hits and three earned runs, but hurt his own cause by walking four and hitting two.

“Four of the five runs Valhalla scored today were either walks or hit-by-pitch,” observed Snyder. “If we’re going to get beat, we want the other team to beat us; we don’t want to beat ourselves.”

ANTHONY SORRENTINO, one of the Cougars unsung hitters, drove in three runs with a double and a single, batting in the No. 9 spot. No. 8 hitter MICHAEL CASTRO drove in two runs for Steele Canyon.

BRAD BOEHMKE and CLAYTON ROYER contributed three hits apiece to Steele Canyon ’s 14-hit attack.

The Norsemen, who have lost five of their last six games, launched a late comeback in the 6th inning.

JOHN AGUIRRE-RUIZ doubled in one run for Valhalla, and the Cougars helped out by muffing an infield grounder that handed the Norsemen two more runs.

“Valhalla put us in a tough position,” Snyder said. “We thought we were good with a 7-2 lead and they definitely made us a little nervous there at the end.”

CISCO TELLEZ produced two of Valhalla ’s five hits. DANNY HAWKSLEY, the Norsemen’s starting and losing pitcher, drove in two runs with a double and fielder’s choice.

"We just didn't put it together in the middle of the game,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “We came out good and finished good, but not sure what happened in the middle." "We had our chances today, but we didn't capitalize,” he added.

CHRISTIAN 8, MORSE 7 – Even though the Patriots had to rely on a narrow escape in Monday’s (Apr. 20) Eastern League opener, Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL never thought his team was in danger of losing against the visiting Tigers.

“Seriously, I didn’t think we were in jeopardy of losing because I knew we could put up runs against these guys,” Mitchell said.

Reliever BRAD ROBERTSON came through with the pivotal pitch, serving up a game-ending double-play ground ball with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 7th. Third baseman CODY POTEET fielded the fateful grounder, fired to catcher MICHAEL GRUBER for the force at home. Gruber then relayed the ball to first baseman TAYLOR EICHHORST to send the Tigers (6-10-1, 0-1 EL) packing.

MICHAEL STOWERS paced the Patriots (10-5, 1-0 EL) with a two-run triple in the 4th inning and an RBI single in the 5th.

Eichhorst provided Christian with an early sendoff as he followed a SHAUN DAY single with his county-leading 7th home run in the 1st inning.

JOSH WOLFSON chipped in with a 2-run double in the 5-run 4th inning.

Junior ERICK ALLEN, the Patriots’ football quarterback, was in control as Christian’s starting pitcher. He allowed only 2 earned runs and struck out 8 during a five-inning stint that netted him his second win in three decisions.

“When we had an 8-3 lead and Erick pitching, I thought we had the thing wrapped up,” Mitchell said. “But his pitch count was up there, so we had to make a change.”

Mitchell’s bullpen did not follow suit, which led to the hair-raising conclusion.

GROSSMONT 7, WEST HILLS 1 – Senior AARON GRIFFIN, perhaps the best pitcher in the San Diego CIF without much notoriety, continues to get the job done.

A 6-foot-4, 190-pound right-hander, Griffin slapped a choke-hold on the visiting Wolf Pack as he toiled a 3-hitter and did not allow an earned run during a six-inning stint. Griffin struck out 5 and walked 2.

“Given the situation I thought we might be vulnerable for a drubbing,” Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY said. “But Griffin turned in his usual great job and we got some timely hitting.”

BRETT ETHERTON’s two-run single broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd inning for the Foothillers (12-5, 2-0 GNL), who maintained a share of the league lead with Santana.

A throwing error handed the Hillers two unearned runs in the 4th inning. CODY SOS added a two-run double with two outs in the 5th.

Grossmont also helped West Hills (5-11, 0-2) – loser of 7 of its last 8 starts – avoid the shutout with an unearned run in the 2nd.

Grossmont and Santana begin a two-game series Wednesday (Apr. 22) at the Foothillers’ Joe Gizoni Field. The same two clubs will switch to Santee on Friday. Both games begin at 4 p.m.

So the 6-foot-3, 175-pound right-hander did something about it. Immediately. As on Monday (Apr. 20) when the Eagles pulled a fly-by on host Monte Vista.

Miller spun a complete-game 7-hitter, while striking out 6 en route to his third win in five decisions.

Junior JARED HUNT, who has logged only 20 at-bats since returning from an injury, hammered his second home run in the 6th inning. DANIEL STARWALT stroked a solo shot in the 1st inning. It was his third home run.

Granite Hills (8-8, 3-0 GSL) has won three in a row and four of five. The Eagles are back to where they are accustomed to flying – tied with Steele Canyon for the GSL lead.

“We hit the ball OK and Dean did a good job on the mound,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said. “But we still have a long ways to go.”

Davis pointed to two bases-loaded situations.

“We had the bases loaded with one out – twice – and then hit into a double play each time,” Davis said. “I guess the scouting report on us would be to walk the bases loaded and then start pitching to us. But we’re improving.”

Granite Hills made it 2-0 in the 3rd inning without benefit of a hit. They made it 3-1 in the 4th, thanks to a Monte Vista error and an RBI single by NATHAN HUFF.

It was more of the same in the 5th as Monte Vista misplays and walks handed the Eagles two more runs.

“I don’t think we played a spectacular game,” Davis said. “But we did what we had to do to win.”

ADAM TIMANUS was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI to account for Monte Vista’s offense.

SANTANA 16, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 – KYLE HAYES, a double threat junior for the Sultans, has been on a batting bender for the past six games. During that span he has collected 14 hits and 13 RBI in 25 at-bats while batting at a .560 clip.

“We were coming off a double-header, a sweep of St. Augustine on Saturday where we only used two pitchers, so that gave us some advantage today,” said Sultans coach JERRY HENSON.

“Hayes is a threat every time he comes to the plate, and DALLAS SEIDEL is right there with him.”

Seidel has collected eight hits in his last 11 at-bats, including the game-winning RBI for the third game in a row. Seidel totals five GWRBI for the season.

Santana broke a 1-1 tie against El Cajon Valley in the 3rd inning on an RBI single up the middle by Hayes. JAMES NEEDY added an RBI linedrive single to left to make it 3-1.

A bases-loaded triple by Hayes broke the game open in the 4th.

Hayes and CHRIS CARMADA each had a 2-run double in Santana’s 7-run 6th inning.

Hayes finished the game 3-for-5 with 6 RBI.

Camarda pitched 4 1/3 innings in relief, allowing two hits and no earned runs to notch the victory.

© East County Sports.com
CLAIREMONT MESA (04-19-09) — It was more than just a non-league double-header to fill out the schedule when Santana ventured to Hickman Field to take on St. Augustine.

This twinbill had playoff connotations since both clubs will vie in Division III of the San Diego CIF playoffs.

So when Santana executed a sweep, winning 7-6 and 3-1, it gave the Sultans (12-6) a possible leg up on the Saints (11-8) in terms of the seeding process.

Junior KYLE HAYES played a major role for Santana, picking up his second save in the opener and his sixth win in the nightcap. Hayes pitched a complete-game four-hitter and did not allow an earned run. He struck out 9 and walked none.

DALLAS SEIDEL, who had the game-winning RBI in both games, gave Santana a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the 1st inning of game two. CAMERON BALOUGH extended Santana’s edge to 2-0 with his first varsity home run in the 2nd inning.

Doubles by JAMES NEEDY and CHRIS CARMADA gave Santana a 3-1 cushion in the 6th inning.

“Hayes pitched a gem of a game,” Santana coach JERRY HENSON said. “And Needy did a good job pitching in the first game.”

Needy worked 6 2/3 innings and allowed only two earned runs. He was touched up for 10 hits, but struck out 7 and walked just one.

CODY SMITH was 4-for-4 with four runs in the two games for Santana, which has won four of its last five games. Seidel ended up 3-for-8 with four RBI.

“We’re just not doing the little things right,” said West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM. “When we get behind we don’t bounce back.”

The Wolf Pack made somewhat of a come back bid in the 5th inning against Patrick Henry (11-7). ROBBY ROBLES and ANDREW MOHRE singled, putting runners at the corners. Robles scored on KYLE HOOPER’s ground out. CHRIS ALLEN, who was 2-for-4, then singled in Mohre cutting the Patriots lead to 4-2.

Robles also had two hits, including a double.

Despite the loss, Baum praised the pitching of COLE BUDVARSON, who limited the Patriots to one earned run and 5 hits through four innings.

“For this being his first, he did a great job,” the coach said.

Baum also noted a strong throw by right fielder BRENNAN TAYLOR to nail a Henry runner attempting to score from second base. “He just gunned the guy.”

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (04-17-09) — In a span of about 30 hours, El Capitan probably played itself out of the Top 10 rankings.

Back-to-back one-run losses in the South Bay, including a frustrating 6-5 setback in nine innings at Eastlake on Thursday (Apr. 16), dropped the Vaqueros’ season record to 9-7.

“We’re getting people on base, but we can’t get that big key hit,” El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY said. “Plain and simple we are leaving too many runners on.”

El Capitan stranded 10 in the first six innings at Eastlake (8-7). Twice the Lakesiders left the bases loaded.

The Vaqueros held three different leads – 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 – over the Titans.

“We can’t seem to put people away,” Vickery said.

KYLE MILLS and TYRONE WIGGINS had three hits apiece for El Capitan. Included in Mills’ totals was his third home run – a solo blast that gave El Capitan a 2-1 edge in the 3rd inning. Wiggins singled in a run in the 5th inning that gave the Vaqueros their biggest lead at 4-2.

Reliever RANDY SCHREIBMAN struck out five in 5 2/3 innings, but was stuck with the loss.

CHRISTIAN LIFE 11, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 8 – Six errors and eight unearned runs spelled doom for Foothills Christian in Thursday’s (Apr. 16) Citrus West League game against Christian Life at Stars Field on the Barona Indian Reservation.

“Youthful mistakes and a lack of focus continue to haunt us,” Foothills Christian coach STEVE PERDUE said.

The Knights (6-4, 2-2 CWL) scored five runs in their last two turns at bat. The Knights had the tying run at the plate in the 7th when ZACH CUMMINGS lined into a game-ending double play.

Down 7-0, Foothills broke the drought on BRANDON JAROSIN’s RBI double in the 3rd inning. The Knights loaded the bases with nobody out in the 4th inning, but had to settle for just one run.

TRAVIS GEORGE led Foothills Christian’s nine-hit attack with a pair of singles and one RBI. DILLON WALSH had two RBI.

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (4-16-09) — It was a pretty solid start for Monte Vista, a team predicted to finish last in the Grossmont South League race.

After taking it on the chin 12-1 in the first game of Wednesday’s (Apr. 15) league opening double-header, the Monarchs rebounded to upend the visiting Valhalla Norsemen 4-3 in Game 2.

“Flat describes how we played in Game 1,” said Monte Vista coach BRANDON ROGERS. “We came out and were not ready to play. I challenged the players before the second game to see how they would respond.”

“I said to them, ‘You are playing at home – do you want to play the second game in front of your home fans the way you played in the first game?’”

“They reacted the way I hoped they would – this was our biggest win in four years.”

NICK SABO pitched a complete game victory, scattering seven hits while striking out five for Monte Vista (4-10, 1-1 GSL).

The Monarchs staged a 3-run rally in the bottom of the 6th inning to escape a 4-2 deficit. MATT BOELTER doubled to ignite the rally and Sabo followed with a walk. One out later JOE BRIDGERS singled to center, but Boelter was cut down at the plate by a throw from Norseman center-fielder WILKEY to catcher BRYCE MOSIER.

After MICHAEL HODGES was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Sabo scored when the Norsemen muffed an infield grounder.

TOMMY DEMARS then provided Monte Vista with the game-winning single, scoring Bridgers and Hodges.

“I was relaxed at the plate today,” said Demars, who was 4-for-5 with 3 RBI in the twinbill. “I was just looking to drive the ball and hit it where it was pitched. During my last at-bat today I just wanted to put the ball in play and keep the rally going. It felt good to get a big hit. We didn’t play too well in the first game. I was curious to see how we would bounce back in Game 2. We played real hard and didn’t give up. I think we proved we can play with those guys.”

His coach agreed.

“Our league is tough from top to bottom,” Rogers said. “When we get pitching and defense I think we proved we can contend in this league.”

Bridgers was 2-for-3 in the second game.

“The whole team was ready to go in the second game,” said Bridgers.

“It helped me drive the ball where it was pitched instead of just trying to pull everything. The 6th inning was really wild.”

Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON was less than satisfied with the split.

“We weren’t the same team in the second game,” Wilson said. “I don’t know why but maybe because the first game was so lopsided. But even though we didn’t hit the ball as well in the second game, we still should have won. We made key errors that cost us three unearned runs.”

Wilson was pleased by Valhalla ’s pitching overall. Even though RYAN PETERSEN was saddled with the second game loss, his coach gave him high marks.

“That was really a bummer,” Wilson said. “He threw a great game in just his second start. It was our defense that killed us.”

In the opening game WILL COOMBS and JOHN AGUIRREZ-RUIZ drove in three runs apiece to back the stellar pitching of DANNY HAWKSLEY.

“We came out swinging and that made things a lot easier for Danny,” Wilson said. “I think he had a no-hitter going for five innings.”

Officially, Hawksley blanked the Monarchs on two hits while striking out seven through six innings.

As is the motto at the Rancho San Diego high school – “You can’t bend steel.”

At least not without blast furnace heat, which Helix (9-8,
0-2 GSL) was unable to generate on this afternoon. The Highlanders, who had not played a game in two weeks, were chilled by the Cougars (11-4, 2-0 GSL) – twice.

ANDREW BELLATTI, one of East County ’s pitching maestros, delivered a 4-hit shutout in the league opener. He walked 2 and struck out 7.

“He had his usual great stuff,” Cougars coach TODD SNYDER said. “Bellatti’s biggest problem is that he’s in the strike zone too much. He’s such a perfectionist that he doesn’t like to waste pitches. He gave up a couple of cheap hits on two-strike pitches in this game.”

It didn’t matter as Bellatti posted his East County-leading fourth complete game. At the same time, he rolled his record to 4-2.

“Some scouts I’ve talked to say Andrew has a major league changeup,” Snyder said. “He spots his slider well and can bring it up there around 92 mph.”

Steele Canyon leadoff man NOLAN MURRAY put together another superb day at the top of the batting order. He was 6-for-8 in the two games, with two extra-base hits, 5 runs and 3 RBI.

Murray had a hand in all three of the Cougars’ scoring innings in the opener. He singled and scored in the 1st and 5th innings. He also drove in a run in the 6th.

The second game was over in less than an hour as Steele Canyon scored 10 runs in the 1st inning of the nightcap.

Fifteen Cougars came to the plate in the opening field, producing eight hits and capitalizing on 2 hit batters and a walk.

DANNY McINTYRE and DUSTIN DEGLER were each 2-for-2 in the opening frame. BRAD BOEHMKE chipped in with a ground-rule double with the bases loaded in round one.

“It was nice to get an early cushion like that,” Snyder said. “It’s something we weren’t able to do in the first five or six games. Getting out front like that only helps build our confidence.”

Snyder noted that Steele Canyon began the GSL campaign 1-2 a year ago, and then went on ton finish 12-3.

“Our start this year is a little more promising,” the coach said.

The long layoff had obvious negative ramifications on Helix.

“We played terribly. We just didn’t do anything right today,” said Helix coach COLE HOLLAND. “We did not compete. Sometimes you go through games like this and hopefully you can bounce back. I thought we would play better today.”

A perennial power, the Eagles have been struggling. Five wins and eight losses in pre-league contests. But they had a field day against Mount Miguel, claiming a 30-0 scoring advantage.

TRAVIS HOPPER and his pitching associates combined to hang the visiting Matadors (5-10, 0-2 GSL) with a dozen zeroes. The second game was halted after five innings by mutual agreement.

Keep in mind Mount Miguel was without its blue chip junior – pitcher/center fielder RUDDY ACOSTA. He was away visiting family.

But Granite Hills (7-8, 2-0 GSL) was in tsunami mode, swamping Mount Miguel from end-to-end. After two scoreless innings in the opener, the Eagles scored in seven of their next eight turns at-bat.

“The biggest thing is we didn’t leave guys on base like we have all season,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said. “We swung the bats well, especially in the clutch.”

Sophomore NATHAN HUFF was a pleasant surprise for the Eagles as he slugged four doubles and collected three RBI in the twinbill.

“That’s a name you are going to hear in the future,” Davis said.

DYLAN GARCIA, who is limited to designated-hitter duties as he recuperates from a hamstring pull, accounted for a dozen runs. A third baseman by trade, Garcia went 4-for-7 with three doubles and six RBI.

Senior DEAN MILLER also had a decent day with the bat – going 4-for-6 with a home run, a triple and five RBI. Miller also notched his second pitching win in the abbreviated second game.

JARED HUNT, who was a composite 4-for-7, accounted for seven runs in the sweep.

It was the longest of days for Mount Miguel, which totaled six hits in the two games.

The Foothillers (11-5) snapped a 1-1 tie with a 7-run 2nd inning and never looked back. For extra measure, Grossmont tacked on five additional runs in the 7th inning to finish the blowout win.

Stevens was an offensive force, driving in four runs with two doubles and a single. The senior southpaw was equally as impressive on the mound, rationing West Hills (5-9) to one hit while striking out 10 in a complete-game effort.

“He’s our guy,” Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY said. “He’s going to carry us. He had a couple of rough (pitching) outings, but today he was money.”

An RBI double by Stevens gave Grossmont a 1-0 lead, but West Hills countered in the bottom of the 1st to tie. CHRIS ALLEN walked, stole second and coasted home on a base hit by BRENNAN TAYLOR.

West Hills’ offense went silent after that.

“Winning the league opener is important because then you’re not chasing right off the bat,” Earley said.

Grossmont finished with 18 hits, including three apiece by STEVEN BRAULT and ALEX OHLSON.

“We had a lot of seeing-eye singles, but that’s what happens sometimes,” Earley said. “I’d rather have them falling in than not.”

The pivotal inning was the 2nd as Grossmont put together five hits and three walks to break away. An RBI single by Ohlson gave the Foothillers a 2-1 edge. EVAN POTTER whacked a two-run double, and after an intentional walk loaded the bases, BRETT ETHERTON rifled a three-run double.

MARK VASQUEZ drilled a two-run single in the 4th for Grossmont. CONOR MEREDITH, Stevens, JOE MUSGROVE and DANIEL FORD all had run-scoring singles in the 7th.

It was the first varsity hit for Musgrove and Ford.

SANTANA 12, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – Sultans senior PRESTON CULVER is just happy to contribute considering his ordeal just to be able to swing a bat.

"Preston 's needed to go through double Tommy John surgery because he came back too soon," noted head coach JERRY HENSON of the elbow ligament reconstruction technique. "He was playing basketball or something and tore it again, so they had to go in and do it again."

"Fortunately, he was able to come back about a month earlier than expected this time, he's swinging the bat for us as our DH and doing a nice job."

Culver drove in three runs with a home run in the 1st inning and an RBI single in the 2nd, helping stake Santana to an 8-0 lead.

"We worked together pretty well – we practiced hard to hit the ball on the line and keep it out of the air," noted Culver, who expects to suit up for Grossmont College next spring. "We're starting to step it up because we realize it's crunch time."

"It's league and you have to get it done by hitting the ball hard. And absolutely no errors – everyone has to stay in the game."

Picked to finish third in the Grossmont North League, the Santana Sultans (10-6) opened the circuit season with something to prove. Thus, they began by registering a resounding romp over El Cajon Valley on Wednesday (Apr. 15) in Santee

KYLE HAYES turned in another strong performance, in three runs with a pair of doubles and a single. He also pitched two shutout innings to log his fifth win in seven decisions.

Eleven Sultans contributed to Santana’s 16-hit assault on three El Cajon Valley pitchers.

Right fielder TRAVIS REYNOLDS, who doesn’t get that many batting chances, smacked the first pitch he saw for his second home run of the season in the 4th inning, increasing the Sultans’ advantage to 10-0.

Henson praised assistant coach LARRY OEDEWALDT for helping fine tune the Sultans’ offense.

“He throws ‘live’ batting practice to the kids almost every day,” Henson said of Oedewaldt, a former high school pitcher at Helix and minor league catcher in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization.”

Henson is pleased with the Sultans’ offensive might and the performance of his pitchers. It’s inconsistent defense that has caused his club problems.

El Cajon Valley (1-15) avoided a shutout in the 7th inning. GAVINO PINAL walked, stole second and scored on a pinch-hit single by ALBERTO ROJAS.

CHRISTIAN 12, MATER DEI 5 – Freshman CODY POTEET was a double threat for visiting Christian in Wednesday’s (Apr. 15) non-league outing at Mater Dei in Chula Vista.

Not only did Poteet pitch a complete-game victory, the freshman right-hander also laced two home runs as the Patriots improved to 9-5.

High winds early in the ballgame made pitching a bit more challenging for Poteet, who surrendered a dozen hits, one walk and struck out 8. He now has 31 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings and a 3-0 record.

“Cody was throwing into the wind and that caused his curveball to break too much,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said. “Because of that he threw more fastballs than he normally would.”

Poteet had at least one strikeout in every inning but the 3rd.

“The wind was definitely a factor,” Poteet said. “Throwing my curveball for strikes was tough in the first few innings.”

Mater Dei’s two pitchers had similar problems. Poteet made each of them pay as he slugged a pair of fastballs for his 3rd and 4th home runs. His two-run shot off the scoreboard extended Christian’s lead to 9-4 in the 4th inning.

“It was a fastball on the outer third,” Poteet said. “It was a low line-drive and I wasn’t sure it was high enough to get out.”

His solo blast in the 6th was a no-doubter.

“I knew it was gone the minute I made contact,” Poteet said. “It hit the wall in front of the houses (beyond the left field fence). That one had a much higher trajectory.”

Playing on the varsity as a freshman has been no problem for Poteet.

“I like the competition and the friends I’ve made on the team,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

TAYLOR EICHHORST started Christian’s home run parade with a two-run smash in the 1st inning. It was No. 6 for Eichhorst, who leads East County.

SHAUN DAY collected three hits at the top of the Patriots order, while catcher MICHAEL GRUBER was 2-for-4 with three RBI.

BONITA VISTA 6, EL CAPITAN 5 – Five unearned runs led to an unexpected defeat for El Capitan in a non-league game Wednesday (Apr. 15) at Bonita Vista.

The No. 6 ranked Vaqueros (9-6) blew a 2-0 lead and wasted strong pitching by a trio of El Capitan hurlers as they succumbed to the Barons. Five of Bonita Vista’s runs were unearned.

A throwing error by the Vaqueros with bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th handed the Barons two runs and a victory.

The Vaqueros took an early 2-0 lead on a double by CHARLES MOORMAN in the 1st inning and a balk that scored RYAN McBURNEY in the 2nd.

After Bonita Vista scored four runs in the 5th inning, El Capitan countered with three in the 6th.

KORBIN KRUGER started the Vaqeros comeback with a basehit to right. ARMON WORRELL followed with a one-out walk, setting the stage for CRAIG LEAVITT’s 2-run double to left-center that tied the game at 4-4.

Leavitt eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by BRIAN WILSON.

“We made three consecutive errors in the 5th inning that eventually led to three unearned runs,” said Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY. “We gave up four runs in the 5th inning. It was really, really disappointing to give away the game.”

Freshman left-hander TROY CONYERS blanked the Barons on one hit through four innings.

“Conyers was dominating for four innings,” Vickery said. “We pulled him in the 5th inning with a sore hip. I didn’t want to push him for a non-league game.

ANTHONY VIGIL held the Barons to two hits and no earned runs over 2 1/3 innings, yet was tagged with his second loss in five decisions.

© East County Sports.com
BARONA INDIAN RESERVATION (4-15-09) – After going nearly two weeks without a game, it shouldn’t be surprising that a team may dig itself into a deep hole.

And that’s exactly what Foothills Christian did against DeSales of Geneva, N.Y., Tuesday (Apr. 14) at Stars Field. The Knights were down 9-1 going into the bottom of the 5th inning, but turned things around and captured a 10-9 non-league victory over the Saints.

Foothills (6-3) capped the comeback by scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th.

In that pivotal inning, the Knights loaded the bases on singles by HENRY LUSCHEI, DEREK DEYLING and TRAVIS GEORGE. IAN MURPHY and BRANDON JAROSIN followed with back-to-back two-run doubles to tie the game at 9-9.

DeSalle issued two intentional walks to reload the bases. That strategy backfired when ZACH CUMMINGS was hit by a pitch, allowing Jarosin to score the winning run.

Jarosin finished with a pair of hits and 4 RBI, while Deyling delivered three of Foothills Christian’s 13 hits. Luschei, who pitched a shutout 7th to pick up the win, was 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot.

“We did not play very well, but we battled and never quit,” Foothills coach STEVE PERDUE said.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (04-14-09) — Competition in the two Grossmont Conference baseball races figures to be about as close as it’s been in the past decade or two.

No one team stands out as a prohibitive favorite in the Grossmont South or the Grossmont North.

Here is a brief outlook of what might happen when the league campaigns begin on Wednesday (Apr. 15):

© East County Sports.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (4-12-09) — When the Christian High Patriots trotted out for Saturday night’s (Apr. 11) KSA Tournament finale, it was obvious that they were exhausted.

Not that the effort wasn’t there, but the Patriots were showing the wear of their fifth day on the road – 3,000 miles away from home.

“The kids have been pretty much on the go since we got here, after flying all night Tuesday,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said.

This is the fourth game on the trip and all the Patriots could produce was six singles as they lost to St. Francis De Sales of Toledo, Ohio, 6-0. It was the first time in 13 games this season Christian has been shutout. Dating back to last year, Christian had gone 22 games without being blanked.

“I don’t want to take anything away from St. Francis, because they are probably the best team we saw back here, but it was clear that we’d hit the wall,” Mitchell said from Florida as he was preparing the team for the return home.

The Patriots had to rise at 3:45 a.m. EDT to get to the airport in time to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight to San Diego.

“It was a great trip in many ways,” Mitchell said. “It was great for team bonding and we had one really special night out as a group to Kobe ’s Steak House (no, not the basketball player). They are Japanese cooks and really put on a show – kinda like Benihana’s – and the food was great.”

In terms of pitching, CODY POTEET blanked the Knights (5-0) on one hit over the final three innings, striking out five.

Next up for the Patriots (8-5) is a non-league game at Mater Dei on Wednesday (Apr. 15) at 3 p.m.

© East County Sports.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (4-11-09) — For the Christian High Patriots, the KSA Tournament has literally been a day in the park.

That would be a different amusement park in each of the last five days and, of course, the baseball parks.

Christian defeated Orangeburg (S.C.), 6-3 on Friday (Apr. 10) in the Wide World of Sports Stadium, which is the spring training headquarters of the Atlanta Braves.

The Patriots (8-4) scored five runs in the 2nd inning, and then coasted to their second victory in three tournament starts. CODY POTEET packed the big punch as he doubled in three in that inning. TAYLOR EICHHORST also singled in a pair of runs.

Sophomore MICHAEL POTEET blanked Orangeburg on one hit over six innings. He walked one and struck out eight. CHRIS MAPLES, who was coming off surgery, got only one out in the 7th as he was roughed up for three runs and three hits.

BRAD ROBERTSON came on to get the final two outs to notch his first save.

ERICK ALLEN also contributed two hits to Christian’s seven hit total.

© East County Sports.com
CORONADO (4-10-09) — With their ace pitcher out of the country with family, pitching thin Mount Miguel ventured into the 3A Division semifinals of the 59th Annual Lions Tournament on Thursday (Apr. 9) at Coronado High.

“To go into that game today was like going into a gunfight with a knife,” mused Matadors coach BYRON GRIGSBY.

Yet, the Matadors, the only East County team to reach the tournament semifinals, took a 3-1 lead over eventual champion Santa Fe Christian in the 4th inning but couldn’t hold on. The Eagles scored 10 runs in their final three at-bats to eliminate Mount Miguel, 11-3.

“We had opportunities but we didn’t make them count. We only had nine guys for Wednesday and Thursday (Apr. 8-9),” Grigsby said.

The Matadors capitalized on two walks, a passed ball, and RBI singles by JULIO ORTIZ and JUWUN McCRAY in scoring all of their runs in the 4th inning. A JULIAN CHARLES ground ball cashed in the Matadors’ third run of the inning.

Charles looked sharp for the first four innings on the mound but ran out of gas in the 5th.

“Julian Charles did a good job for us but had some bad breaks with a high pitch count,” Grigsby noted. “We didn’t get much help from our bullpen.”

GROSSMONT 5, BINGHAM (Utah) 1 – It’s becoming pretty obvious that the Foothillers are going to have to rely on their pitching if they are going to be serious contenders in the Grossmont North League. A team can never have too much pitching depth, regardless how well they hit as a unit.

Enter senior NICK GASPAR, a 6-foot, 190-pound left-hander.

Through most of his varsity career Gaspar has been a middle reliever who has made a few spot starts. Coach JIM EARLEY gave him the ball in Thursday’s (Apr. 9) consolation round of the 59th annual Lions Tournament at Joe Gizoni Field.

In only his second start of the season Gaspar twirled a complete game, allowing just three hits while striking out five. It took him 87 pitches to send the Bingham (Utah) Miners packing.

“Gaspar just threw awesome today,” said Earley. “Today was the best I’ve seen him throw – ever. He was in complete control from beginning to end. It was good to see him have success. Once we get into league he’ll definitely be throwing quite a bit.”

“Bingham was a good team so it wasn’t like he was throwing against a weak opponent. They are one of the better teams we’ll play this year. We don’t have any creampuffs on our schedule.”

Grossmont finished 2-2 in the tournament.

“It was nice to win in the last two days, to end up on a good note,” Earley added.

After falling behind 1-0 the Foothillers (10-5) tied the game in the 3rd inning on STEVEN BRAULT’s sacrifice fly.

A 3-run 4th put Grossmont on top to stay. The Miners (5-4) contributed two errors in the 4th frame. Pinch-hitter AARON GRIFFIN also had an RBI single for Grossmont in that inning.

Grossmont tacked on an insurance run in the 6th thanks to a 3rd Bingham error, as Brault picked up his second RBI of the day on a single to center.

LEVI STEVENS accounted for half of Grossmont’s four hits with a pair of singles.

STEELE CANYON 19, BAKERSFIELD-LIBERTY 8 – Defending Grossmont South League champion Steele Canyon won 3 of 4 games in the Premier Division of the 59th annual Lions Tournament.

In Thursday’s (Apr. 9) consolation contest the Cougars scored a season-high 19 runs, spearheaded by the 4-for-5 effort of sophomore catcher JESSE JENNER. Jenner was 6-for-11 with 5 RBI and three extra base hits in the last three games.

Actually it was a batting free-for-all for Steele Canyon, as eight Cougars contributed to a 16-hit attack. BRAD BOEHMKE, MICHAEL WINTER and ANTHONY SORRENTINO each had two hits and 3 RBI.

ANDREW BELLATTI pitched in with a pair of doubles and 2 RBI for the Cougars, who scored in five of the six inning before the game was halted by the 10-run mercy rule.

“I feel like we swung the bats well. The middle of the lineup made things happen. My 3, 4, 5 and 6 hitters were a combined 10-for-15 with 4 doubles and a triple. They accounted for 5 runs on top of 11 RBI – 16 runs of our total 19.”

While the Cougars’ hitters were providing most of the fireworks against the Bakersfield bunch, Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER wanted to heap accolades on freshman left-handed pitcher FRANK CALIFANO.

Making his varsity debut, Califano came into the game with two outs in the 5th inning and picked a runner off first base to close out the Patriots.

“The amazing thing is he did it again in the 6th inning – picked off a second guy at first,” Snyder said.

Califano pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings and did not allow a hit.

“At the end of a 4-day tournament teams are limited in pitching,” Snyder said. “We are fortunate that we had some guys left that could give us some good innings.”

It’s hard to say which direction a team is going to go, once it’s knocked out of the medal round. In analyzing the Vaqueros’ joust with the Yucaipa Thunderbirds (14-1), it was a success despite losing.

MICHAEL FLORES, a 6-foot-6, 187-pound sophomore, made his first varsity start for the Vaqueros against a team that has been ranked in the nation’s Top 20 all season. Perhaps it was a lack of knowing who he was facing because Flores was anything but intimidated by the Thunderbirds.

Given that Flores has pitched only four innings of mop-up relief prior to Thursday’s start, the five innings he threw against Yucaipa were impressive to say the least. He allowed only one hit and two earned runs, but surrendered six walks, which raised his pitch count and caused coach STEVE VICKERY to remove him from the game a bit sooner than he would have liked.

“I’m pleased with the performance of Michael Flores today,” said Vickery. “He gave us an opportunity to win the game.”

Junior reliever ANTHONY VIGIL also held the Thunderbirds hitless in the 6th, yet surrendered an unearned run thanks to a walk, two hit batters and an error.

On the offensive end the Vaqueros (9-5) scored their only run in the 3rd inning. KORBIN KRUGER provided the spark with a leadoff single. BROOKS NOBLE then lay down a bunt that Yucaipa misplayed, leaving runners at first and second with nobody out. Kruger eventually scored on a wild pitch.

After that the Vaqueros didn’t stir up much dust. El Capitan was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

“We just didn’t make plays or get timely hits,” Vickery said. “This is a game we let slip through our fingers.”

DOMINION CHRISTIAN (Ga.) 4, CHRISTIAN 2 – Things started out in fine style for Christian as the Patriots took a 2-1 lead over undefeated Dominion Christian of Georgia in Thursday’s (Apr. 9) second round of the KSA Tournament in Orlando, Florida.

A sacrifice fly by BRAD ROBERTSON accounted for Christian’s first run and CODY POTEET doubled in the second tally in the 1st inning.

After that the Patriots were limited to three hits by a trio of Dominion Christian pitchers.

Christian’s TAYLOR EICHHORST started and pitched three innings, leaving the mound with a 1-run lead.

The Knights (10-0) pecked away at a pair of Christian relievers and eventually gained a 3-2 lead in the 6th.

“We made an error in the 6th inning and they capitalized on it,” Patriots coach MIKE MITCHELL said.

In the 7th inning Dominion hit an inside-the-park home run to deep centerfield.

“Our centerfielder, KENNY JENKINS, made a fully laid out dive and caught the ball, but when he hit the ground the ball kicked out of his glove,” Mitchell said. “The runner was really fast and came all the way around.

“Kenny looked like Superman on that play, he was so stretched out.”

Valhalla doubled its lead in the 2nd inning. JOSH AUSTEL provided the spark with a lead double. JOHN AGUIRRE-RUIZ drew a walk, while WILL COOMBS was hit by a pitch to fill the bases with one out.

ANTHONY GONZALES singled in Austel, and BRYCE MOSIER brought home Aguirre-Ruiz with a deep fly ball.

"We started off the day well, then fell in a tank and couldn't get out," Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON said.

NINO TUTINO blanked the Cougars (9-5) through four innings before tiring and surrendering three runs in the 5th.

"Nino had a good outing for his first varsity outing,” Wilson said. “He kept us in the ballgame but we just didn't do what it took to maintain the lead and win the game."

Valhalla reliever BEN GROSS was victimized by three consecutive errors to start the 6th inning. He gave up only one hit, but the fielding lapses cost him and the Norsemen (4-10) three unearned runs.

Austel and AUSTIN HENSLEY had two hits apiece for Valhalla.

"Hopefully we can get some rest and get some guys healthy and back into their normal positions," Wilson said of his team that does not play again until Wednesday (Apr. 15) when it opens the Grossmont South League season with a double-header at Monte Vista.

BAKERSFIELD-STOCKDALE 8, GRANITE HILLS 4 – For Granite Hills, the four games the Eagles played in the 59th Lions Tournament were anything but classic. The competition in the Classic Division was fierce, and the Eagles are young.

Bakersfield Stockdale came to town riding high with a 13-2 record, but the Mustangs returned home having settled for a split of four games after overpowering Granite Hills on Thursday (Apr. 9) on the Eagles home field.

Granite Hills took a 2-1 lead in the 4th inning without benefit of a hit. TYLER PONCIANO was hit by a pitch and BRIAN CARROLL reached base on an error. JARED HUNT advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. DYLAN GARCIA brought in Ponciano with a sacrifice fly.

Stockdale (15-4) pounced on two Granite Hills pitchers for five runs in the 5th.

But the Eagles made one last-ditch shot at a comeback in the top of the 6th. RONNIE VON HAGEN singled and scored on a triple by Carroll. Hunt plated Carroll with a scoring fly ball to make it 6-4.

The Mustangs countered with two runs in the bottom of the 6th, and that was that.

DEAN MILLER led Granite Hills 7-hit attack with a pair of singles.

Technically, the ball beats Valhalla baserunner Anthony Gonzales to the bag. However, there's a rule in baseball that the Poway defender also needs possession of the ball. (Photo by Mark Gonzales)

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-09-09) — About this time in the high school baseball season, East County teams are routinely included in the semifinals of the annual San Diego Lions Club Baseball Tournament.

That isn’t the case this year.

In the 59th annual Lions Tournament’s seven 16-team divisions only one East County team will be vying for the hardware. Most would call this a surprise considering Mount Miguel is the lone survivor in the medal round, which begins with Thursday’s (Apr. 9) semifinals.

The Matadors (5-7), who are clearly hurting for pitching depth, take on Santa Fe Christian (7-5) in the 3A Division semifinal at Coronado High. First pitch is 12:30 p.m. If successful, Mount Miguel will face the winner of the Nevada Union-Escondido semifinal for the 3A championship the same afternoon at 3:30.

The only other Inland 9s slated to play on Thursday (Apr. 9) are relegated to the consolation bracket. Just those who competed in the Classic and Premier Divisions of pool play were eligible for an additional consolation contest.

The East County lineup for consolation action on Thursday: Granite Hills hosts Bakersfield Stockdale at 10; Steele Canyon battles Bakersfield Liberty at Granite Hills at 1; Grossmont hosts Bingham (UT) at 1; Valhalla tangles with San Ysidro at Mira Mesa at 1; and El Capitan tackles Yucaipa at Poway at 10.

Meanwhile, Christian duels Georgia’s Dominion Christian in the KSA Tournament in Orlando, Fla. at 10:30 a.m. PDT.

CHRISTIAN 5, MT. PARAN CHRISTIAN (Ga.) 3 – Coach MIKE MITCHELL doesn’t make any secrets about it. The reason he takes his Christian High Patriots to southern Florida every other year is to create team bonding.

“I told my team ‘Now remember that we came here to play baseball first,’” Mitchell said. “’It’s OK to have fun but we can’t lose our focus.’”

Spending five days in Orlando, Florida, the nation’s hub for amusement parks, will provide fun for the players for sure. It will also create a bevy of distractions.

Following a late night flight from the West Coast on Tuesday night (Apr. 7), the Patriots (7-3) were obliged to play their first game in the KSA Tournament less than 12 hours after they landed. It didn’t seem to bother them.

“That’s one of the great things about being a kid,” Mitchell noted. “They’re so very resilient.”

TAYLOR EICHHORST, Christian’s senior first baseman, put on a home run hitting show against the Eagles from Marietta, Ga. He hammered a 440 foot home run with two outs in the 1st inning.

“He absolutely crushed it,” Mitchell said. “It went over the fence, over a section of grass, cleared a walkway and landed in the bushes. People who have been here for decades said that was one of the longest home runs they’ve every seen – whether it be a high school or college player.”

But Eichhorst wasn’t through, as he launched a 2-run homer – his 5th of the season – over the left field wall to break a 2-2 tie in the 3rd inning.

MICHAEL STOWERS was 2-for-3, including an RBI triple for the Patriots. CODY POTEET, batting in the leadoff spot, was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored.

Where Poteet was most effective, though, was on the mound where he pitched four innings of hitless relief, striking out six to roll his season record to 2-0.

“Cody did a great job pitching,” Mitchell said. “The good thing is he only had to throw 49 pitches to finish the game.”

MICHAEL FERREIRA made his first varsity pitching start for the Patriots.

“Mike hasn’t pitched for a number of years. We are trying to get him back on the mound,” Mitchell said. “When he was in junior high he pitched but was injured – had three surgeries in a two-week period: knee, wisdom teeth, and wrist. He’s one of our senior leaders – the kids look up to him.”

CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC 14, EL CAPITAN 6 – The 3rd ranked Dons clobbered four El Capitan pitchers for 13 hits in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) Classic Division pool play of the 59th Lions Tournament.

Tyler Gaffney clouted a 3-run homer in the top of the 1st, but the Vaqueros (9-4) were able to erase the deficit thanks to three throwing errors by the Dons’ third baseman.

When Cathedral scored six times in the 2nd inning, El Capitan was unable to answer.

“I’m very disappointed because our execution just wasn’t there,” said Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY. “We had two competitive players on the field and (the Dons) had more.”

Gaffney finished with four RBI while raising his season average to .500. Cathedral leadoff hitter Matt Moynihan was 4-for-5 with four runs scored, including a home run.

Although obviously not pleased by his pitchers’ performance, Vickery didn’t place all the blame on his men on the mound.

“We couldn’t catch a pop fly, field a ground ball or make a throw across the infield,” he said. “When you can’t do the basics you probably won’t beat anybody. When you fail to do that against a team like Cathedral you can expect to lose.”

Cathedral batted around twice to turn the game into a rout.

The high points for the Vaqueros were few. At the top of the list of standouts was freshman catcher CHARLES MOORMAN, who was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. RYAN McBURNEY also had two RBI for El Capitan, which left four runners in scoring position.

Versatile TANNER RUST made his pitching debut in relief, of battered starter RANDY SCHREIBMAN.

“The numbers may not indicate what Rust did,” Vickery said, “but the one thing you can say of him, he will compete – no matter where you put him on the field. He is one of the best competitor’s I’ve ever coached.”

GRANITE HILLS 10, LAS VEGAS-GREEN VALLEY 2 – It’s pretty obvious that Green Valley wasn’t aware of the abilities of Granite Hills leadoff hitter, BRIAN CARROLL.

Carroll, a junior centerfielder, was 3-for-3 with a triple and a run scored, helping the Eagles (5-7) bowl over the perennial power Gators from Nevada in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) Classic Division pool play game of the Lions Tournament.

Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS, who has been openly frustrated by the Eagles’ inability to hit in the clutch, had to like what he saw in this game, which was closer than the final score indicates.

The Eagles turned it into a blowout when they scored seven runs and accounted for 6-of-11 hits in the 6th inning. DYLAN GARCIA supplied the big blow in the inning with a 2-run double. ERIC BORTISSER, DANIEL STARWALT and JARED OLEJNICZAK also had run-scoring doubles in the wild inning.

“That was a key hit of the game,” Davis said of Bortisser’s two-bagger, which gave the Eagles a 4-2 lead. “We finally pieced some hits together. It was nice. It was a better atmosphere today.”

At the same time, Davis was pleased by the complete-game pitching of Starwalt, who scattered seven hits and struck out 4.

The Titans (11-3) held a 4-0 lead before AUSTIN HENSLEY singled in ANTHONY GONZALES in the 3rd inning.

The Norsemen scored twice in the bottom of the 5th and appeared ready to make a game of it. DANNY HAWKSLEY drove in one run with a groundout, and the second tally came across on a wild pitch, cutting Poway ’s lead to 4-3.

Poway put the game away three runs in the final two innings, while Valhalla left nine runners on base.

"It's amazing that we only got 3 runs out of the 11 hits today,” said Wilson. “We have been hitting the ball well, but so far, in the Lions Tournament, just haven't been able to get those key hits when needed to score the runs."

Gonzales, the Norsemen’s leadoff hitter went 3-for-3 and scored twice. BRYCE MOSIER and CISCO TELLEZ also had two hits apiece for Valhalla, as did Hensley.

"It was nice to see Anthony, Bryce, Cisco and Austin get a couple hits apiece today,” Wilson said. “They looked like they were comfortable today."

Junior WILL COOMBS pitched four innings, allowing six hit and three earned runs to the Titans.

"Will gave us four strong innings today,” Wilson said. “I wish we could have helped him a little more defensively."

WEST HILLS 9, SAN FRANCISCO-LOWELL 8 – The Wolf Pack scored three runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to edge San Francisco Lowell in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) third round of 4A Division pool play in the 59th annual San Diego Lions Club Tournament in Santee.

The last-inning rally enabled West Hills (5-8) to snap a four-game losing streak.

This one was a real fist fight as the two teams countered each other’s scoring surge.

Ironically, it was West Hills’ first run in the 2nd inning that proved to be the difference in the outcome. The Wolf Pack produced only one single in that frame but the Cardinals (9-11) committed two of their five errors, allowing West Hills to score an unearned run.

Junior THOMAS HEGNER had his finest offensive showing, going 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and two runs scored. BRENNAN TAYLOR added two hits to West Hills’ 11-hit attack, while COLE BUDVARSON drove in two runs with a double, 2 RBI and three runs scored.

In the decisive 7th West Hills generated only two singles, one by freshman pinch-hitter ALEX PARSONS and another by Hegner.

The game ended when Lowell issued three consecutive two-out walks, the last one to CHRIS ALLEN, which forced in the game-winning run.

Grossmont (9-5) jumped on top 4-0 in the 1st inning. EVAN POTTER started things off with an infield single and darted to third on CONOR MEREDITH’s double. Potter scored on a groundout by LEVI STEVENS, and Meredith jogged home on a double to right-center by CODY SOS.

BRETT ETHERTON drove in a third run with a base hit, and DANIEL FORD took one for the team as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, to score Etherton.

Grossmont added to its lead in the 2nd inning on Sos’ sacrifice fly. Stevens doubled home a run in the 4th to make it 6-1. Potter capped a 4-run 5th with a 2-run single.

STEVEN BRAULT pitched the first five innings to post his 3rd win in four decisions for Grossmont.

STEELE CANYON 4, PALISADES 1 – They may not be the headliners of the Steele Canyon pitching staff, but CODY KLOPP and STEVEN SLADEK combined to pitch a 6-hitter against Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) final pool play game in the Premier Division of the Lions Tournament.

The Steele Canyon duo surrendered only one unearned run due to the Cougars’ lone error in the game, which occurred in the 7th inning.

Klopp, a senior right-hander, was on top of his game as he struck out six and walked none in five innings. Sladek finished the job, giving up just one hit and the unearned run.

“We played sound baseball today,” said Cougars coach TODD SNYDER. “Our pitching led the way. When we play good defense, we play winning baseball.”

The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. DUSTIN DEGLER singled and scampered around to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball. He rode home on CLAYTON ROYER’s sacrifice fly.

Reserve catcher ANTHONY SORRENTINO had his best day as a varsity ballplayer for Steele Canyon (8-4). He led off the 3rd inning with a home run, and then singled and scored on BRAD BOEHMKE’s triple in the 4th inning.

DANNY MacINTYRE also had two hits for the Cougars, including an RBI double in the 3rd frame.

SD-SOUTHWEST 5, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 – Although the struggling Braves were competitive in all three of their Division 2A Lions Tournament games, they still have plenty of holes to fill.

If they get a lead, they can’t seem to hold it. If they fall way behind, they don’t have the firepower to catch up. That’s presented second-year head coach MIKE RUPP quite a dilemma.

“We played better in the last couple of games, we just have trouble putting everything together,” Rupp said. “When we do, we’ll start winning some games.”

El Cajon Valley took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning. NERLIN CARREON started the rally with a base hit, EFREN PADILLA followed with a single to right but Carreon was thrown out attempting to go to third. DAVID SANCHEZ kept the rally going with a single past the third baseman, putting runners at the corners.

The Southwest third baseman then booted a ball hit by BRENT HARRIS, permitting Padilla to score.

That lead did not stand up as the Eagles scored three runs – two of them unearned – in the bottom of the 1st.

El Cajon Valley shaved the deficit to one when CASEY RIVERA and ABNER GARCIA singled with one out in the 4th. ABEL CERVANTES then doubled home Rivera.

Cervantes, Carreon and Padilla each had two hits for the Braves, who did not score in the final three innings.

VALLEY CENTER 4, MONTE VISTA 3 – The Monarchs suffered a stinging defeat in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) final round of the 3A Division in the Lions Tournament.

The visiting Jaguars scored runs in the 6th and 7th innings to erase a Monte Vista 3-2 advantage.

Despite the fact that Monarchs pitchers TOMMY DEMARS and SHAWN LaBOUBE limited Valley Center to three hits, the Jaguars (6-9) were able to capitalize on nine walks and three wild pitches to steal the victory.

Monte Vista, which picked up a run on NICK SABO’s RBI single to tie the game 1-1 in the 3rd inning, scored twice in the 5th inning without benefit of a hit to take a 3-2 lead.

A wild pickoff throw by the Jaguars allowed ADAM TIMANUS to score the tying run. A sacrifice fly by Sabo gave the Monarchs (3-9) the lead.

Valley Center ’s Justin Lawrence struck out 10 in a route-going performance.

BONANZA 6, SANTANA 3 – The Sultans continued to get quality starting pitching as junior lefthander ZACH OEDEWALDT allowed only one hit and two runs over four innings in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) final day of the Blazer SportCo Spring Bash in Las Vegas.

Oedewaldt did hamper his effort by walking five. On the upside, he struck out four.

Santana (9-6) might have had a more favorable finish had its bullpen not surrendered four runs in the 6th inning, giving the Bengals a 6-1 lead.

DALLAS SEIDEL attempted to lead a Santana comeback when he lined a 2-run single to left field, slashing Bonanza’s lead in half. But that’s where the drive stalled.

KYLE HAYES paced the Sultans’ meager attack with a 2-for-4 effort, including a 7th inning double.

“I hope we got a little more out of this trip than just wins and losses,” said Santana coach JERRY HENSON, whose team won only one of four games in the Silver City.

EC-SOUTHWEST 7, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 – Even though the Matadors were not facing a must-win situation in Wednesday’s (Apr. 8) final pool play game of the Lions Tournament against El Centro Southwest, Mount Miguel coach BYRON GRIGSBY wasn’t pleased by his team’s performance.

Mount Miguel was held to four hits by the Eagles’ Jerry Cortez, who struck out nine in a complete game effort.

JULIAN CHARLES led the Matadors with two hits and also pitched one inning of shutout relief.

“We competed but we couldn’t score,” said Grigsby. “We were kinda flat.”

Wed., Apr. 8 59th annual Lions Invitational

Classic Division FOOTHILLERS 10, SKYHAWKS 5 LV-Silverado (9-9) Grossmont (9-5) 000 101 3 - 05 09 1 410 140 x – 10 13 0 Gahn, Simmons (5), Scala (5), Staresinic (6) and Dushane; Brault, Soggie-Henderson (6), Kleis (7) and Ohlson. W-Brault (3-1). L-Gahn. EAGLES 10, GATORS 2 LV-Green Valley(8-9) Granite Hills (5-7) 000 200 0-02 07 0 210 007 x-10 11 0 Kohorst, Strand (6) and Carra; Starwalt and Ponciano. W-Starwalt (2-0). L-Kohorst. DONS 14, VAQUEROS 6 Cathedral (10-3) El Capitan (9-4) 360 041 0 – 14 13 3 301 101 0 - 06 09 5 Camarena, Shanks (6) and Husband; Schreibman, Rust (2), Macky (5), Mills (7) and Moorman. W-Camarena (2-0). L-Schreibman (2-2). HR-Gaffney (CC) 1st, two on; Moynihan (CC) 6th, solo. TITANS 7, NORSEMEN 3 Poway (11-3) Valhalla (4-9) 031 002 1 – 7 09 0 001 020 0 – 3 11 1 Rosen, Behic (5), Lipe (5), Smith (6) and Wynne; Coombs, Gross (6), Kuster (6) and Mosier. W-Rosen. L-Coombs (0-3). HR-Thomas (P) 3: 2nd, one on; 6th, solo, 7th, solo; Anderson (P) 3rd, solo. Premier Division COUGARS 4, DOLPHINS 1 Palisades (9-8) Steele Canyon (8-4) 000 000 1 – 1 6 0 012 100 x – 4 6 1 Zamboni, Poulos (5) and Ray; Klopp, Sladek (6) and Sorrentino. W-Klopp (1-0). L-Zamboni. HR-Sorrentino (SC,1) 3rd, solo.

4A Division WOLF PACK 9, CARDINALS 8 SF-Lowell (9-11) West Hills (5-8) 000 340 1 – 8 07 5 010 230 3 – 9 11 2 Two outs when winning run scored. Pan and NAllen; Angelo, Pierce (5), Weinrich (5), Carlin (6), Lindahl (7) and Kennedy. W-Lindahl (1-0). L-Pan. 3A Division JAGUARS 4, MONARCHS 3 Monte Vista (3-9) Valley Center (6-8) 001 020 0 – 3 7 3 100 101 1 – 4 3 1 Demars, LaBoube and Parma ; Lawrence and Preston. W-Lawrence. L-LaBoube (0-1). EAGLES 7, MATADORS 0 Mount Miguel (5-7) EC-Southwest (5-10) 000 000 0 – 0 04 3 310 201 x – 7 11 0 McCray, Burruel (4), Charles (5), Ortiz (6) and Ortega; Cortez and Moreno. W-Cortez. L-McCray (1-4). 2A Division RAIDERS 5, BRAVES 2 ECVHS (1-14) SD-Southwest (4-9) 100 100 0 – 2 9 1 300 002 X – 5 7 1 Catlitt, Padilla (6) and Rivera; JColmenares and Ontiveros. W-JColmenares. L-Catlitt (0-1). Blazer SportCo Spring Bash At Las Vegas BENGALS 6, SULTANS 3 Santana (9-6) LV-Bonanza (6-11) 100 000 2 – 3 6 0 002 004 x – 6 5 1 Oedewaldt, Seidel (5), Camarda (6) and KFerreira; Bryant, Johnson (7) and Orozco. W-Orozco. L-Oedewaldt (0-1). HR-Bryant (B) 6th, solo. KSA Tournament, Orlando, FLa. PATRIOTS 5, EAGLES 3 Christian (7-3) Mt. Paran (Ga.) 112 010 0 – 5 9 0 201 000 0 – 3 2 0 MFerreira, CPoteet (4) and Gruber; Allf and Kaska. W-CPoteet (2-0). L-Allf. HR-Eichhorst (Chr, 4,5) 1st, solo, 2nd, solo.

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (4-8-09) — To look at him, one would have to believe El Capitan pitcher TROY CONYERS to be a senior.

That’s way off the mark. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound southpaw is only a freshman.

OK. Just try to convince opposing batters of his youth.

Facing perennial power Torrey Pines in Tuesday’s (Apr. 7) second round of Classic Division pool play in the 59th annual San Diego Lions Baseball Tournament at Rancho Bernardo, Conyers held the Falcons to one hit over five innings and struck out 8 during a five-inning stint in El Capitan’s 7-0 victory.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get nervous before pitching a game of this magnitude,” said the 14-year old Conyers, who carries a 3-0 record and a 2.13 ERA. The fact that he has struck out 35 batters is simply a bonus.

Conyers might have held the Falcons hitless had he not allowed a bloop single to J.J. Reading – who came in with a .479 average – leading off the bottom of the 1st.

“I had an 0-2 count (on Reading ),” said Conyers. “I fooled him with a changeup, but he threw the head of his bat out there and got one off the end of it for a base hit.”

Instead of becoming rankled by Reading ’s cheap hit, Conyers tightened up the vise grips on Torrey Pines (8-4).

“I got a lot of first-swing strikes off my changeups,” Conyers said. “And that helped to get ahead. I used my fastball to establish myself and let my curveball and changeup dictate things after that.”

It’s hard to believe that East County ’s only Top 10 team boasts a freshman pitcher as its ace.

“I was very proud of the way my freshman pitcher Troy Conyers pitched today,” said Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY. “The only hit he gave up was off the end of the bat.”

El Capitan, which has won five straight, broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd inning as RYAN RUSSELL doubled to right. JACOB HAJEK took over on the base path and advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on TYRONE WIGGINS’ sacrifice fly.

The Vaqueros broke the game open with four runs in the 5th inning. TANNER RUST hammered a 2-run homer and KORBIN KRUGER tripled in two more.

“I think this was our best game of the year,” Vickery said. “It’s been two days in a row that we’ve been very aggressive at the plate. Our pitchers have just made quality pitch after quality pitch.”

CHATSWORTH 4, SANTANA 1 – Baseball is as much a pastime at Chatsworth High as it is on a national scale. The Chancellors, who set a state record for 54 consecutive victories from 2003-05, don’t care much who they are playing.

These guys expect to win, and they usually do.

Santana took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning as DALLAS SEIDEL doubled to right-center and scored on a base hit by JAMES NEEDY during pool play of the Blazer SportCo Spring Bash on Tuesday (Apr. 7) in Las Vegas.

Junior KYLE HAYES made that lead stand up for four innings before the Santana defense collapsed, allowing Chatsworth (14-1) to score four unearned runs between the 5th and 6th innings.

“We would have won that game if we could just throw, catch and field the ball,” said Santana skipper JERRY HENSON. “We have the pitching and for the most part our hitting has been there. But the errors that we make just keep holding us back.”

Chatsworth senior southpaw MICHAEL RENNER struck out 13 Sultans in a rout-going performance. Needy was the only Sultan with more than one hit as he finished 2-for-3.

SANTANA 13, LAS VEGAS-DURANGO 6 – After lengthy delays due to games preceding them, the Sultans had to watch their scheduled 8 p.m. start stretch to an hour later. With a 2½ hour time limit per tournament game, that’s never a good thing.

Once on the field the Sultans proved to be pretty good night owls as they out-slugged host Durango (Nev.).

Playing their second game of the evening, the Sultans were anything but blurry-eyed as they scored in 5 of the 6 innings of a game that was halted by the tournament curfew at 11:30 p.m. in Tuesday night’s (Apr. 7) Blazer SportCo Spring Bash contest.

KYLE HAYES sparked Santana’s 13-hit attack against the Trailblazers (8-10), banging his 4th home run and 3 singles to drive in 2 runs and score 3 more.

JOSE NUNEZ, making a rare start, pounded 2 doubles and a single in 4 at-bats to drive in 2 more runs for Santana (9-5).

MICHAEL MOTTOLA picked up a pair of RBI with a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly.

The unsung hero in the Sultans’ victory, which became fact just before midnight in the Silver City, was sophomore right-handed pitcher JAYLEN FLEER. Promoted from the junior varsity, Fleer pitched 3 innings and did not allow an earned run in his varsity debut. Equally as eye-catching were his 5 strikeouts.

For the Santana faithful, the most memorable moment was a tape measure home run by Hayes.

“He hit a ball into an adjacent shopping center and onto the roof of a store in the 5th inning,” Santana coach JERRY HENSON said. “That ball had to travel at least 420 feet.”

The game was not without its quirks.

“This was the first time most of our kids have ever played under the lights,” the coach said. “The wind was blowing really hard and the temperature was dropping by the minute, so when the sprinklers came on about 10:45, it made things pretty miserable. I have to credit my kids for focusing on the task at hand.”

Maybe the Matadors won’t capture the circuit crown, but the fact that coach BYRON GRIGSBY has Acosta in his holster could make Mount Miguel the swing vote.

In his latest start Acosta pitched a 2-hitter over six innings against visiting University City in the 3A Division of the Lions Tournament pool play on Tuesday (Apr. 7).

The Matadors provided Acosta with an early cushion, scoring four runs in the first two innings against the Centurions (5-7).

TONY ALVAREZ, Acosta’s batterymate and cousin, slapped a 2-run single, giving the Matadors a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. Not surprisingly, Acosta contributed a double to set the stage for Alvarez’ clutch hit.

An inning later University City pitcher Ryan Waltermire walked two of the first three batters he faced. The Centurions’ defense erased one of the Matadors runners but Mount Miguel kept the rally alive when MARTY MATANANE singled and RUDY BURREUL followed with the second of his three hits to make it 3-0.

Matanane and Burruel then executed a double steal to make it 4-0.

That was all that Acosta and reliever JULIAN CHARLES would need to secure the victory. Charles got the final 3 outs to earn the save for Acosta, who posted his 2nd win in 3 decisions.

“We’re getting better,” Matadors coach BYRON GRIGSBY said. “It’s kinda big to get some wins before league starts.”

EL CAMINO REAL 7, STEELE CANYON 1 – Facing off against state power El Camino Real (11-4), the Cougars proved they were not up to the challenge in Tuesday’s (Apr. 7) Premier Division Lions Tournament encounter in Rancho San Diego.

“We’re having a tough time trying to find our identity,” said Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER. “Since this is a team game, everybody needs to know their role. The problem we’re having is we’re not much of a team at the moment.”

Snyder believes that Steele Canyon (7-4) can repeat as Grossmont South League champions. At the same time he recognizes that the team unity isn’t what it should be.

“I know these are high school kids with a whole lot of distractions,” Snyder said. “And it’s our job as coaches to try to create a bond as a baseball team.”

Steele Canyon overcame an early 1-0 deficit with one out in the 4th inning as JESSE JENNER tripled and ANDREW BELLATTI doubled him home. But that right there was half of the Cougars’ offensive output. The only other two hits Steele Canyon mustered were a double by Jenner and a single by Bellatti.

In terms of pitching, Bellatti turned in a sparkling performance, but was sabotaged by 5 Steele Canyon errors, which led to 5 unearned runs. The Cal State-Fullerton-bound right-hander struck out 8 and walked one as he delivered his 3rd complete game of the season.

RANCHO BERNARDO 7, GROSSMONT 3 – When veteran starter AARON GRIFFIN was driven from the game with the score tied 3-3 in Tuesday’s (Apr. 7)

Classic Division Lions Tournament game at Rancho Bernardo, Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY brought in a rookie in hopes of changing the Foothillers’ fortunes.

JOE MUSGROVE, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound sophomore right-hander, made his varsity debut against one of the more storied high school baseball programs in the San Diego Section.

The Broncos (9-4) proved to be a rude welcoming committee as they pushed Musgrove around for four runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings. All of the damage came in the 5th inning.

In years past Grossmont probably could have weathered such a storm. Not this group, which is basically learning on the job since only two starters have true varsity experience.

After falling behind 2-0 in the opening frame, the Foothillers fought back to take a 3-2 lead in the 3rd. All three of their runs were driven in without benefit of a hit – a groundout, passed ball and wild pitch.

STEVEN BRAULT accounted for two of Grossmont’s five hits with a pair of singles. CODY SOS clubbed a double.

LA JOLLA 9, WEST HILLS 5 – A leaky defense keeps submerging the Wolf Pack. It seems like no matter how many runs they score, miscues in the field and mistakes on the mound continue to haunt the Pack.

“Defense is our Achilles Heel,” said Wolf Pack coach CHRIS BAUM. “We’ve made 10 errors in the last two games. Instead, we should be peaking right now.”

That’s not the case though. West Hills has lost 6 of its last 7, including 4 in a row.

In Tuesday’s (Apr. 7) loss to La Jolla – a Division 4A Lions Tournament pool play game – the Pack did not go down without a fight.

Freshman MICHAEL CARLIN keyed a pivotal 5th inning with a leadoff double. CHRIS ALLEN followed with a bunt single. One out later – with runners at second and third –TONY SPEARS singled to right, plating both runners to create a 4-4 tie.

But after that the West Hills pitching faltered, permitting the Vikings (7-4) to score 5 runs in their final two times at bat, thus deciding the issue.

Allen had another sparkling offensive effort in the West Hills leadoff spot, going 3-for-4 with 2 runs, 1 RBI and 3 stolen bases.

Valhalla put up a brief struggle when freshman AUSTIN HENSLEY hit his second home run of the campaign to tie the Golden Bears 1-1 in the 2nd inning.

Sophomore RYAN PETERSEN, making his first varsity start for Valhalla, kept things in check through three innings before Temecula Valley (9-2) punched him around for six runs in the 4th inning. The Golden Bears’ barrage included a pair of home runs.

"Wish we could have erased the one inning today, but that's baseball,” sighed Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “You have to play 7 strong."

Reliever TYLER JEZIERSKI turned in three strong innings in relief for Valhalla, allowing just one run and three hits.

Valhalla added a belated run in the 6th inning as BRYCE MOSIER doubled and scored on a base hit by DANNY HAWKSLEY.

YUCAIPA 13, GRANITE HILLS 4 – As if Granite Hills were not having enough problems, Tuesday’s (Apr. 7) second round pool play game in the Lions Tournament Classic Division competition pitted the Eagles against one of the top teams in Southern California – the Yucaipa Thunderbirds – at Coronado High.

Ranked in the high end of the Top 10, the Thunderbirds flew to a 12-1 lead by the 5th inning, making it clear to Granite Hills (4-7) why they haven’t lost in 13 games.

“They’re a more physical team than we are,” said Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS.

Of course four Granite Hills errors added extra octane to Yucaipa ’s 15-hit attack against Eagles’ ace TRAVIS HOPPER, and reliever EMILIO CAZARES. Only 7 of Yucaipa ’s runs were earned, but it didn’t really matter because it was obvious which team was superior.

The Eagles underclassmen once again carried the torch. Freshman DANIEL STARWALT was 2-for-4, including a 2-run triple in the 5th inning. Junior leadoff sensation BRIAN CARROLL was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Senior ERIC BORTISSER banged out 2 hits, as did DEAN MILLER and RONNIE VON HAGEN.

NEVADA UNION 7, MONTE VISTA 2 – The Monarchs’ brief two-game winning streak came to a halt Tuesday (Apr. 7) when Nevada Union (9-6) captured the second round 3A Division pool play match in the Lions Tournament at Hilltop High.

It seemed as though the Monarchs (3-8) could never get out of first gear against the Miners. In fact they garnered only one hit – a solo home run by ADAM TIMANUS in the 3rd inning. Timanus is the only Monte Vista player to hit a home run this season.

Against the Miners, Timanus was the only true offensive threat.

In the 6th inning after being hit by a pitch, Timanus posted the second of his two steals, advanced to third on IVAN PARMA’s groundout and scored on MATT BOELTER’s sacrifice fly.

BRAWLEY 9, EL CAJON VALLEY 7 – This one had to hurt.

The Braves (1-13), who last tasted victory on Mar. 10 when they handled Hoover 10-7, saw a 7-3 lead evaporate in the 7th inning of Tuesday’s (Apr. 7) 2A Division Lions Tournament game at Kearny High.

Brawley (4-9) scored six runs in the top of the 7th inning to steal what appeared to be a certain victory for El Cajon Valley.

ABEL CERVANTES, who accounted for 5 runs by going 3 for 5 with a double and 3 stolen bases, was turning in a solid job pitching before tiring in the 7th.

El Cajon Valley broke to a 4-1 lead with three runs in the 2nd inning. Cervantes doubled in the first run, NERLIN CARREON singled in another and back-to-back hit batters forced home a third.

EFREN PADILLA, BRENT HARRIS, DAVID SANCHEZ and Carreon punched in two RBI apiece for El Cajon Valley.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 7, SD JEWISH ACAD. 0 (forfeit) – The Foothills Christian Knights received a Citrus League West forfeit from the SDJA Lions on Tuesday (Apr. 7).

You Make The Call

Steele Canyon baserunner Nolan Murray makes the head-first slide into third base, but Coronado defender Todd Kellecher places the tag down in time for the out. Earlier in the 6th inning, Murray's sacrifice bunt and an Islanders error brought home the tie-breaking run, as the Cougars captured their Lions Invitational opener, 3-1. (Photo by Tori Mills)492 274

© East County Sports.com
CORONADO (4-7-09) — As the defending Grossmont South League champions, it's a wonder that Steele Canyon High's baseball team continues to be over-looked.

Yet here are the Cougars, owning one of the best records among East County programs following a 3-1 triumph over host Coronado after Monday's (Apr. 6) opening-round victory in the 59th annual San Diego Lions Tournament.

Buoyed by strong pitching from NATHAN O'TOOLE and CODY KLOPP, the bottom of the Steele Canyon batting order registered all seven of the team's hits to gain an early edge in the Premier Division.

The victory vaulted Steele Canyon’s record to 7-3 overall, trailing only El Capitan (8-3) for the top winning percentage among local ballclubs.

O'Toole, a junior left-hander, limited the Islanders to just 4 hits over 5 2/3 innings, collecting a season-best 9 strikeouts at the Island's Dedeaux Field on the Silver Strand.

"I just felt on today and it all came to me," noted O'Toole. "I had like a side-arm curveball – a power curve – so with two strikes, I like to bring that hard curve."

When O'Toole tired and hit a pair of batters to place the potential tying runners on base in the 6th, Klopp was summoned. The senior escaped the jam with a strikeout, then after allowing two Coronado batters to get on board in the 7th, added two additional strikeouts to gain the save.

"This game was a building experience," added O'Toole. "Now we can move on and keep bringing some heart to our game."

Meanwhile, with the top five batters for Steele Canyon going a collective 0-for-13, the bottom side refused to get tempted by the 287-foot short porch into the wind in right field. Keeping the ball low and to the left side, the Cougars produced single runs in the 3rd, 6th and 7th innings to overcome an early 1-0 deficit.

DUSTIN DEGLER had a hand in two of the rallies. He scored the tying run after a single, a bunt which went for an infield hit by MICHAEL CASTRO, then a single past the shortstop by CLAYTON ROYER.

"We've been hitting in practice, so it worked out," noted Royer, a sophomore. "In my case, I was just looking for a fastball and I got it."

To take the lead, Royer opened the 6th with a basehit, with pinchrunner TAYLOR MISHLER stealing second base. NOLAN MURRAY sacrificed, but when his bunt was picked up and tossed down the right-field line, put the Cougars in front.

In the 7th, after MICHAEL WINTER reached on a dropped third strike, Degler garnered his second hit with a double down the line in left. When the defender dropped the ball three times, Winter was waved home and barely beat the relay to the plate.

"I got a fastball, too, and I jumped on it," noted Degler, who matched Castro and Royer with two hits each. "We need runs to win games, so I'll take them anyway I can get them."

"And I was proud of our pitchers. Cody did a great job closing it out for Nathan, who threw well today."

EL CAPITAN 7, BAKERSFIELD-STOCKDALE 3 – There’s something about these El Capitan Vaqueros that has to keep veteran coach STEVE VICKERY scratching his head. His team has notched some pretty impressive victories, but at other times haven’t been able to get out of their own way.

It would be hard to argue that Monday’s (Apr. 6) first round Classic Division contest of the 59th annual Lions Tournament against state power Bakersfield Stockdale was not the finest outing of the young season for the Vaqueros.

Stockdale rolled into town riding a 13-game winning streak after an 0-3 start. Winners of the Central Section CIF championship with a 31-4 record a year ago, the Mustangs thought they’d kick up their heels, considering Lakeside is rodeo country.

What they hadn’t counted on was an excellent pitching job by ANDREW RIGGINS and CAMERON MACKY. The duo scattered 7 hits and permitted only 2 earned runs to the big shots from Bakersfield.

“Riggins gave us six strong innings,” said Vickery. “He pitched out of some tough situations today.”

Making only his second appearance of the year, Macky, a 6-foot-4, 209-pound right-hander, slammed the gate on the Mustangs budding rally.

“We had their eighth and ninth batters on base in the 7th inning and Macky came in and just threw lights out,” Vickery said. “He really dominated for three batters – earned himself some more opportunities.”

El Capitan scored all the runs it would need in the 4th inning, ringing up a 5-spot.

A double by junior RYAN McBURNEY drove in the first run to tie the game 1-1. El Capitan edged in front when BROOKS NOBLE was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

After TYRONE WIGGINS’ sacrifice fly made it 3-1, TANNER RUST ripped a 2-run double into the right-centerfield gap.

In the 7th doubles by McBurney and RYAN RUSSELL helped the Vaqueros extend their advantage to 7-2.

MONTE VISTA 14, SAN DIEGUITO 4 – NICK SABO went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, propelling Monte Vista to a rout of San Dieguito Academy in Monday’s (Apr. 6) Lions Tournament 3A Division opener at University City.

It marked the first time in 10 games that the Monarchs have posted back-to-back victories.

Sabo, a 6-foot-3, 160-pound sophomore, has played a key role in Monte Vista’s latest good fortune. In fact he’s 9-for-9 over the last two games with 4 extra base hits including 2 triples and 4 RBI.

“I was seeing the ball real well today,” said Sabo. “It was a good hitting background for me. For the last week I’ve been seeing the ball real well out of the pitcher’s hand. I’m just trying to hit the ball where it’s pitched – I’m not worried about the power at all. I’m more comfortable at the plate now than I was earlier this year. I struggled a bit at the start of the season. It’s nice to come up to the plate with runners on base in RBI situations. Our team has really turned things around. It’s fun to play baseball again.”

“Nick has been working hard, especially at practice,” said Monte Vista coach BRANDON ROGERS. “He’s getting everything he deserves right now. He’s young and he’s learning each time he goes out.”

The Monarchs banged out 16 hits against San Dieguito. MICHAEL HODGES was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. TOMMY DEMARS also had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs for Monte Vista (3-7).

“We have been playing well lately,” said Rogers. “The kids are on a high – they really believe in themselves. We want the kids to gain confidence from these tournament games.”

ADAM TIMANUS and IVAN PARMA combined to pitch a 4-hitter for the Monarchs.

“Timanus pitched well today,” Rogers added. “He’s finally on top of his game and he finally has trust in his abilities.”

JOHN AGUIRRE-RUIZ hammered a grand slam in the 4th inning, taking a giant bite out of the deficit posed by the Kennedy Cougars from Granada Hills.

"John's granny really helped shift momentum our way today,” said Norseman coach MIKE WILSON. “It seemed to be enough for us to taste it and just keep hacking."

And so they did.

An RBI double by freshman AUSTIN HENSLEY tied the game in the 5th. JOSH AUSTEL followed with another double, scoring a pair of runs.

The double-or-nothing Norsemen (4-7) went for a third 2-base hit, and got it as JOHN CSUKRAN plated yet another run. WILL COOMBS capped the inning with an RBI single, staking Valhalla to a 9-5 advantage.

Both teams scored three runs in the 6th inning.

For Valhalla, CISCO TELLEZ tapped an RBI single and Austel added a 2-run single to close the scoring. Austel finished 3-for-4 to pace the Norsemen’s 14-hit attack.

"It was nice to see us get guys on base and drive them in,” said Wilson. “We've been doing a good job of executing, and we have really begun to drive in the runs when they’re in scoring position."

Junior right-hander DANNY HAWKSLEY, who was ticketed to be Valhalla ’s closer, is now a starting pitcher. He allowed only 3 earned runs and struck out 8 during a 5-inning stint against Kennedy. He was rewarded with his first win.

"Danny has done a great job of getting us deep into games,” said Wilson. “He has really stepped up and is doing awesome in the starting role on the hill."

MOUNT MIGUEL 5, CASTLE PARK 4 – As goes RUDDY ACOSTA, so go the Mount Miguel Matadors. Actually it’s hard to believe that the 6-foot-6, 195-pound junior has only one victory to his credit for Mount Miguel (4-6).

None the less, Acosta daily plays an integral role – both as a pitcher and as a hitter.

He made key contributions in the Matadors’ latest conquest, blasting a 2-run home run in the top of the 7th and then recording a game-ending strikeout to earn the save in Monday’s (Apr. 6) 3A Division of the annual Lions Tournament.

Acosta finished the day 2-for-4, while his cousin, Matadors catcher TONY ALVAREZ was 2-for-3 including a solo home run.

Not to be overlooked was the pitching of EDUARDO HIGUERA, who limited the Trojans to just one run through six innings. When Higuera ran into trouble in the final frame, Acosta was there to rescue him.

“Eduardo had more command than he’s had in the past,” said Matadors coach BYRON GRIGSBY. “He got ahead in the count and stayed ahead.”

Sophomore RUDY BURRUEL was also 3-for-4 for the Matadors.

LA COSTA CANYON 7, GROSSMONT 1 – After winning eight of their first nine the Foothillers suddenly find themselves in a three game losing streak following Monday’s (Apr. 6) first round Classic Division encounter of the Lions Tournament at Joe Gizoni Field.

Grossmont’s LEVI STEVENS and Mavericks Garrett Hughes were locked in a pitchers’ duel through five innings. The only run to that point came in the Grossmont 2nd. CODY SOS slugged a two-out double and scored on ALEX OHLSON’s single.

Meanwhile, Stevens was throwing a no-hitter at the No. 1 ranked Mavericks through five innings. His prospect of pitching a no-no was dashed in the 6th thanks to two Grossmont blunders in the infield, a pair of walks and a grand slam by Will Swanner.

That 5-run inning was more than enough for Hughes, who held the Hillers hitless over the final 3 2/3 innings. The Mavericks’ 6-foot-9, 250-pound left-hander struck out 6 and walked 2.

“He’s got to be one of the best pitchers in our section,” Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY said. “He was throwing fastballs right down the middle and we weren’t swinging. And then we wound up chasing way too many curveballs.

“Of course, we’re not going to strike fear into anybody with our offense.”

OTAY RANCH 4, WEST HILLS 2 – Despite a respectable pitching job by a handful of Wolf Pack pitchers, West Hills (4-7) fell to Otay Ranch (9-2) in Monday’s (Apr. 6) opening round of the 4A Division of the Lions Tournament.

It was the third straight loss for the Wolf Pack, which has dropped five of its last six decisions.

West Hills got off to a textbook start in the 1st inning as CHRIS ALLEN singled, advanced to second on SAM LINDAHL’s bunt and scored on TONY SPEARS’ base hit. But what the Wolf Pack could not overcome was its four defensive miscues, which handed the Mustangs two unearned runs.

Allen led the Wolf Pack’s 10-hit attack with 3 singles and scored both runs. He scored his second tally in the 3rd inning as part of a double steal with Lindahl.

In the 6th inning the Mustangs’ hit an apparent home run with a runner on base. However, the lead runner rounded third without touching the bag and the umpire called him out.

“I saw it and so did my third baseman,” said West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM. “Fortunately, so did the ump. It was the third out of the inning and it saved two runs. It kept us within one run (at the time).”

JUAN DIEGO CATHOLIC (Utah) 5, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 – The Soaring Eagles (6-1) from Draper, Utah came out of the snow to open the 2A Division of the Lions Tournament against El Cajon Valley at Canyon Crest on Monday (Apr. 6).

Once again the Braves (1-12) found themselves playing catch-up as they wasted a solid pitching performance by the combination of EFREN PADILLA and JIMMY CATLITT.

The two El Cajon Valley pitchers allowed only 6 hits and 3 earned runs, but the Braves were blanked over five innings before they got on the scoreboard with an RBI double by BRENT HARRIS in the 6th and a run-scoring single by ABEL CERVANTES in the 7th.

NERLIN CARREON and Padilla contributed 2 hits apiece as El Cajon Valley outhit Juan Diego 10-6.

“We played better defense today,” said Braves coach MIKE RUPP. “We made a couple of base running mistakes that hurt us. Padilla pitched well – he kept us in the game.”

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 11, GRANITE HILLS 5 – Trailing 5-1 after four innings, host Granite Hills scrambled back to within one run of Rancho Buena Vista in Monday’s (Apr. 6) opening round of the Classic Division of the Lions Tournament.

“I thought we were in pretty good position going into the last inning down 6-5,” said Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS.

Rancho Buena Vista had its own ideas, scoring five runs after two outs to take a commanding lead. Four of the runs in that inning were unearned.

JARED HUNT went 2-for-4 including a 2-run homer in the 6th inning. Eagles leadoff man BRIAN CARROLL reached base all five times with a single and four walks. He stole two bases in the 1st inning and scored on DYLAN GARCIA’s single, giving Granite Hills (4-6) a brief 1-0 lead.

CHARLIE ST. CLAIR was 2-for-2 with an RBI for the Eagles.

CENTENNIAL 3, SANTANA 2 – Senior JAMES NEEDY turned in a blue-chip pitching performance in Monday’s (Apr. 6) opening round of the Blazer SportCo Spring Bash in Las Vegas.

But his defense betrayed him by committing five errors, resulting in two unearned runs which proved to be the difference in the game.

“Needy looked real sharp,” Santana coach JERRY HENSON said. “He was throwing hard today.”

Needy struck out 12 Golden Hawks from Bakersfield Centennial (15-1). He walked only one, but that free pass came home to roost.

All of the scoring came in the 5th inning. Three Santana errors helped the Golden Hawks score three runs in the top half.

The Sultans (8-4) fought back, slugging half of their six hits in the bottom half. PRESTON CULVER led off with a double and CORY HOSFORD ran for him. ZACH BREIDT singled to score Hosford. RYAN STUTZ later slugged an RBI double, but the comeback stalled after that.

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (4-4-09) — The Helix Highlanders dedicated Friday’s (Apr. 3) winning of the Grossmont North-South Tournament championship to a fallen comrade.

“This game was for him,” Holland said.

Holland went on to say, “Even with all that had happened, Bronson insisted on coming to practice yesterday. That’s the kind of kid he is.”

Runions was part of a flawless Helix defense which did not commit an error and made several key plays to help DYLAN NICKERSON pitch his 3rd straight complete-game victory.

“The thing about Dylan is he’s always around the plate and keeps the ball down,” Holland said of Nickerson, who struck out seven and walked one. “That’s his game. They swung through a lot of pitches.”

Nickerson needed 87 pitches to subdue the Sultans (8-3). The junior right-hander repeatedly ticked the outside corner with an assortment of fastballs, curveballs and changeups.

Calling this his “best game of the season,” Nickerson once retired 10 Sultans in a row. He would have spun a shutout had he not given up consecutive two-out singles to KYLE HAYES, DALLAS SEIDEL and JAMES NEEDY in the 6th inning.

“I felt like I could throw my curveball for a strike anytime I wanted to,” Nickerson said. “And I felt the same way about my changeup.”

Shoddy Santana defense helped the Highlanders (9-6) score three unearned runs in the first three innings. Helix totaled only 4 hits in the game – 2 of them by JAKE REED.

The epitome of Santana’s frustrating afternoon occurred in the 1st inning when starting pitcher RYAN STUTZ led off with a double over the centerfielder’s head. Credit the Highlanders’ ANTHONY DIAZ for making a quick recovery in getting the ball back to the infield.

Shortstop BENNY GUERRERO took Diaz’ throw and slapped a tag on Stutz, who seemed stunned as he was nailed two feet off the bag.

“I don’t think Stutz even knew where the ball was,” Reed said. “Benny caught him off-guard when he turned his back.”

What made that play a major turning point in the game was that Hayes followed one out later with a double in the left-field corner. By the close of the inning Santana had two extra base hits and no runs.

“I think we set the tempo the whole game, starting with that play right there,” Reed said.

Helix has won seven of its last eight games, while Santana had won seven straight before running into Nickerson and the Highlanders. The irony is, Santana had beaten Helix 3-1 earlier in the season.

“Winning the Grossmont Conference Tournament championship is really special for us,” said Reed. “We haven’t done that in awhile. I think it’s awesome for all of our guys to be the first Helix team to win it in a long time.”

Holland agreed.

“I think winning this championship is as big as any except the SDCIF, obviously,” he said. “It’s especially big for us, considering the way we played last year.”

The Highlanders, who staggered to a 9-18 finish in 2008, are pleased to note they have already matched last year’s victory count, with 15 games remaining.

“I kept telling our returning guys it was gonna get better, and today is proof of that,” Holland said. “It just feels great and I’m happy for our guys.”

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-3-09) — “This week has been high school baseball at its finest,” said Christian High baseball coach MIKE MITCHELL with a touch of irony.

What Mitchell was alluding to was high school baseball is unpredictable.

Coming off one of the bigger wins in school history two days earlier – a 7-3 conquest of the San Diego CIF’s No. 2 ranked team, Cathedral Catholic – the Patriots suffered what could be deemed a costly 7-4 loss in Thursday’s (Apr. 2) City Conference Tournament come playoff time.

Although Cathedral Catholic is a traditional playoff heavyweight, the Dons compete at the Division III playoff level. Christian (6-3) and Madison (8-4) are Division IV rivals.

Thus, if the Patriots never face the Warhawks again during the regular season it may be difficult to convince the SDCIF seeding committee that they should be seeded ahead of Madison.

Mitchell drew a simple comparison of the win over Cathedral to the loss to Madison.

“Against Cathedral, we couldn’t do anything wrong and today we couldn’t do anything right,” he said ruefully.

Harsh as it may sound, the Patriots, who took a 3-2 lead after three innings, sputtered to the finish line against Warhawks reliever Jake Merrill.

“Merrill took a baseball off his chin during pre-game on Tuesday and had to go to the hospital – he wound up with five stitches in his upper lip,” said Madison coach Rob Lovato.

Merrill (4-1) didn’t show any signs of the injury as he came on in relief to squelch Christian’s 3rd inning rally by serving up a double play ball. Overall Merrill allowed only four hits and one run during a 4 2/3 innings stint. His defense was rock hard as it turned three double plays behind him.

This was definitely a major comeback for Merrill, who used his bat to break a 3-3 tie with a bases loaded single in the 5th inning, staking the Warhawks to a 5-3 lead.

“That’s the first time he’s batted all year,” Lovato said.

Christian erased an early 2-0 deficit with a 3-run burst in the 3rd inning. SHAUN DAY doubled and advanced to third on a single by JOSH WOLFSON. TAYLOR EICHHORST hammered a deep fly ball to right field, allowing Day to score.

Christian catcher MICHAEL GRUBER belted a 2-run homer into the swimming pool beyond the right-field fence to put the Patriots on top.

Christian finally broke through against Merrill for a late run in the 7th. CODY POTEET, who was 2-for-3 in the game, started the belated rally with a double. One out later he scored on Wolfson’s third single of the day.

But then Merrill put the brakes on the Patriots’ comeback attempt by serving up a game-ending double play ball to Eichhorst.

MIDWAY BAPTIST 2, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 1 – Progress in the Foothills Christian baseball program has been noticeable this season to say the least.

The Knights could easily be standing at 7-0 right now had they scored another half-dozen runs.

“We have lost 3 games all by one run each,” said Knights head coach STEVE PERDUE. “We continue to make some silly mistakes but we are very young. This is a great group of kids and I have no doubt in my mind we will be competing for the title when all is said and done. We sure haven’t lost because of lack of effort.”

In their latest Citrus West League outing on Thursday (Apr. 2) the Knights (4-3, 1-1 CW) were one out away from knocking off host Midway Baptist (3-5, 2-3 CW).

But the Patriots’ starting pitcher Joe Altig who, together with Zack Balich, held the Knights to one hit, ignited a 2-out rally in the bottom of the 7th inning. Playing with a case of the flu, Altig legged out an infield single off Foothills Christian reliever HENRY LUSCHEI. Altig proceeded to steal second and third, and scored on a base hit by Martian Sanchez to tie the score.

Matt Ollier followed with a hit-and-run single through the left side, sending Sanchez to third. However, the relay from the Foothills outfield wound up in the Midway Baptist dugout, allowing Sanchez to score the winning run.

Foothills Christian’s lone tally came in the 2nd inning without benefit of a hit. JR ATTERBURY walked, advanced to second on the first of his three steals, and continued on to third when the catcher’s throw sailed to the outfield. Atterbury then scored on a groundout by freshman AJ HOFFMAN.

Atterbury accounted for Foothills Christian’s only hit with a single in the 5th inning.

The Knights’ pitching was solid. Starter DEREK DEYLING needed only 78 pitches to post 5 shutout innings. Deyling, who struck out 6 and walked 3, also recorded 3 of Foothills Christian’s 8 steals in the game.

The biggest disappointment for Foothills Christian in this game was leaving eight runners in scoring position with two outs.

“All in all I am very excited about the future of this team,” Perdue said. “Coaching these guys really is fun. But honestly, this is more teaching than (assistant coach) DAVE LEWIS and I have had to do in a long time. We will be there in the end and watch out for us next year.”

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-2-09) — Their chances of gaining a berth in the Grossmont North-South Tournament game were slim at best, but the host Eagles had to believe they had a shot, considering Granite Hills has not lost to Grossmont in the past 12 seasons.

The Eagles (4-5), who were battling idle Helix in a tie-breaker format that would decide the Grossmont South representative in Friday’s (Apr. 3) title tilt, appeared to have their mastery over the Foothillers well in hand as they took a 10-1 lead into the 6th inning.

If that score had held up, Granite Hills would have advanced by virtue of fewest runs allowed to the East County conference’s championship game at Santana.

Credit Grossmont senior first baseman LEVI STEVENS for spoiling the Eagles’ party. After hitting 7 home runs as a junior, Stevens cleared the wall with his first home run of the season – a 2-run shot to right-centerfield in the 6th inning – to knock Granite Hills out of the championship berth.

Thus, the Eagles had to settle for a 10-3 victory over the visiting Foothillers on Wednesday (Apr. 1).

Helix (8-6) gained the nod to play the Sultans (8-2) for the East County tournament championship Friday at 4 p.m. Both Granite Hills and Helix lost one pool play game. That left it to the tie-breaker – fewest runs allowed. Helix surrendered 10, Granite Hills gave up 12.

Despite missing a shot at the tournament championship, the Eagles had to be pleased with their latest performance against Grossmont (8-3).

Eagles senior DYLAN GARCIA third baseman clubbed 2 doubles and a single to drive in 5 runs before leaving the game with an apparent hamstring pull in the 4th inning.

“He said he heard something pop as he rounded third base,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said. “I don’t know how serious it is, but I sure hope it isn’t.”

Although Garcia did leave the lineup – perhaps as much because the Eagles were leading 10-1 – he later dismissed the apparent injury.

“I felt a little pop, maybe because I was accelerating too fast,” Garcia said. “I just messed it up a little. It’s just sore, a little tender right now but it’ll be fine.”

If there was a high point for Granite Hills’ not qualifying for Friday’s Grossmont North-South Tournament game, extended rest for Garcia would be it. Granite Hills does not have a game scheduled until the Lions Tournament on Monday (Apr. 6).

Garcia, who has an 8-game hitting streak and a .433 batting average, believes he will not miss a game.

“This is by far the best game I’ve had this season,” he said. “I was seeing the ball well and just wanted to get after it.”

Garcia doubled in Granite Hills’ first run in the opening frame, singled in 2 runs in the 2nd inning and drove in 2 more with a double in the 4th.

Meanwhile Granite Hills leadoff hitter BRIAN CARROLL was 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored, extending his hitting streak to 9 games and elevating his East County leading batting average to .606 (20-for-33).

Freshman DANIEL STARWALT was limited to one hit in four at-bats yet managed to drive in 3 runs and extend his Granite Hills hitting streak to 6 games to go along with his .517 batting average (17-for-33).

Senior southpaw TRAVIS HOPPER would have enjoyed an even more gratifying outing if he could have found something to do about Stevens. Outside of Stevens, who was 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and a home run, the Foothillers mustered only two singles.

“We’re a lot better than our 4-5 record,” Davis said. “We’ve been struggling to find our confidence but it’s good to beat a good-quality team like Grossmont. Hopefully this is another one of those signs that we’re turning things around.”

For first year head coach JIM EARLEY it was the first time he’s seen his Foothillers lose back-to-back contests.

“We were worried about too many non-baseball things,” he said. “And that distracted us. I’ve been here for 15 years and this was one of the few times that I’ve actually been embarrassed by our performance.”

Not since the 1997 San Diego CIF Division I quarterfinals have the Foothillers beaten Granite Hills. In that round, Grossmont garnered a 16-10 win and continued on to win the SDCIF championship.

Since that glorious moment, Grossmont has posted a 12-0-1 record with the Grossmont North-South Tournament concluding in a 12-12 tie in 2004.

MOUNT MIGUEL 4, WEST HILLS 1 – When Mount Miguel ’s 6-foot-6, 195-pound right-hander RUDDY ACOSTA is locked in, opposing hitters are finding themselves handcuffed.

Acosta allowed only four hits and struck out 14 in a complete-game effort as the visiting Matadors (3-6) mowed down the Wolf Pack in Wednesday’s (Apr. 1) final round of pool play in the Grossmont North-South Tournament.

“That Acosta, he’s legit,” West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM said. “He was getting ahead with his fastball all day. Then he’d come in with his slider. That was his ‘out’ pitch – the slider. If he threw it in the dirt we’d swing over it. If he brought it up in the zone, we’d take it for strike.”

Acosta struck out every West Hills starter at least once. Five of the Pack starters whiffed two times apiece.

“He is a definite presence on the mound,” Baum said. “If you let him settle in early like we did today, it’s all over. He was busting people inside the whole game.

“No question he’s the best pitcher we’ve seen this season.”

Acosta also keyed Mount Miguel ’s 1st inning rally with a two-out single. TONY ALVAREZ and JULIAN CHARLES followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases.

JULIO ORTIZ delivered the knockout blow from there, striking a bases-clearing double for a 3-0 lead. Ortiz then coasted home on a single by freshman ANTHONY ORTEGA.

West Hills avoided a shut out with a run in the 5th inning. CHRIS ALLEN singled, advanced to second on DAVID BRYAN’s bunt and scored on TONY SPEARS’ single.

“I’ll take my guy (Acosta) against anybody in the county,” Mount Miguel coach BYRON GRIGSBY said. “We’ve adjusted his mechanics and he’s starting to get the pop he had a year ago.”

MONTE VISTA 23, EL CAJON VALLEY 5 (5 inn.) – A pair of struggling ballclubs in need of additional playing time were short-changed after umpires declared the game over after five innings due to "unsafe playing conditions" after one defender lost the ball in the sun.

Translation: The men in blue really wanted to invoke the now-defunct "mercy rule" after the Monarchs scored multiple times in every inning to dispose of the host Braves in Wednesday's (Apr. 1) final pool play round of the Grossmont Conference Tournament.

Despite the one-sided score, neither side was thrilled with the premature ending, as both sides cleared the bench to give everyone the opportunity to participate.

Although the contest only lasted five frames, Monte Vista established a school record with 26 hits. The total was one short of the East County record, yet still ranks 11th-best in CIF-San Diego Section history.

Leading the hit parade was Monarchs sophomore NICK SABO, who went 5-for-5, while shortstop ADAM TIMANUS was also 5-for-5 before flying out on his sixth plate appearance.

Two of Sabo's hits were triples, while the team collected four 3-base hits, equaling one of East County's oldest marks set by El Capitan in 1970, then matched by Grossmont in 1990.

If the game had continued, both Sabo and Timanus were within reach of the section record of 7 hits (in a 7-inning game) by former El Capitan standout RYAN INVERSO, who is currently the leading hitter for San Diego Christian College.

"I was able to lean into a couple of them, taking it the other way," noted Sabo. "And we can keep it up. We're learning more each time we go out there, and we're working on our defense."

Sabo also gained the pitching victory, setting down 11 consecutive ECVHS batters during one stretch until the Braves broke loose for four runs in the 5th after once trailing 23-1.

Included was an RBI double by Braves infielder NERLIN CARREON. Later, shortstop DAVID SANCHEZ tripled home two runs before Sabo escaped with one of his 8 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, ABEL CERVANTES went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored twice.

Among those taking advantage of playing time was Monte Vista junior DANIEL MARTINEZ, who clinched the triples milestone with a 3-run shot to the deepest point in the ballpark.

"I just come out each day and try my best and show coach what I need to do get onto the lineup," said Martinez. "It's just motivation and hustle by everyone of the team – we have a very strong future ahead of us."

A total of 10 Monarchs knocked in runs, including a team-high four by third baseman MATT BOELTER.

El Cajon Valley prevented further damage by turning a pair of double plays, both started by second baseman EFREN PADILLA.

EL CAPITAN 14, VALHALLA 10 – Although neither of these traditional powers are headed toward any tournament championship games at the moment, they did put on a solid offensive display in Wednesday’s (Apr. 1) final round of pool play of the Grossmont North-South Tournament.

In an East County season that appears to be shy of offensive firepower the visiting Norsemen and the Vaqueros combined for 26 hits, including 3 home runs, a triple and 8 doubles.

“From our standpoint, offensively speaking, it was an outstanding game,” commented El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY. “Every time Valhalla scored we answered, and that’s a good sign.”

Vaqueros sophomore TYRONE WIGGINS provided the spark at the top of the El Capitan batting order while extending his season-long hitting streak to 10 games. The 5-foot-10 centerfielder produced 3 hits – one of them a double – an RBI, 2 runs and 3 stolen bases.

“This guy is gonna be a good one if he keeps up what he’s doing,” Vickery said.

This is no one-man-show for No. 8 ranked El Capitan (7-3), however, as KORBIN KRUGER crunched a 3-run homer and KYLE MILLS plated 3 runs with 2 hits, a sacrifice fly and a bases loaded walk.

El Capitan broke a 6-6 tie by scoring half a dozen runs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Mills opened the frame with a double and advanced to third on a single by freshman catcher CHARLES MOORMAN. After Kruger walked to load the bases RYAN McBURNEY singled, giving the Vaqueros an 8-6 advantage.

The El Capitan onslaught continued as BRIAN WILSON tapped an infield single to reload the bases. RYAN RUSSELL walked to force in a run. A Valhalla miscue in the infield handed the Vaqueros another tally and TANNER RUST laced a single to drive in yet another run.

But Valhalla’s generosity didn’t stop there as the Norsemen walked Mills with the bases loaded to give El Capitan a 12-6 advantage.

Even after that disastrous frame Valhalla did not roll over and play dead. Doubles by JOSH AUSTEL and JOHN AGUIRRE-RUIZ, coupled with a dropped pop fly by the El Capitan second baseman, plated 2 runs for the Norsemen in the top of the 5th.

But that’s as close as Valhalla would get thereafter.

ANTHONY VIGIL allowed only one earned run over the final 3 2/3 innings to collect his 3rd pitching win in 4 decisions.

Although hampered by injuries Valhalla (3-7) put together one of its best offensive showings. DANNY HAWKSLEY slugged his 2nd home run of the campaign into the Valhalla parking lot during the opening frame.

Junior WILL COOMBS, who was cuffed around on the mound, had a solid day at the plate with 2 hits, including a long 2-run homer that tied the game 6-6 in the 4th.

“That ball Coombs hit over the right field fence landed across Ashwood Street,” Vickery said. “That’s one of the longest home runs we’ve had hit here in awhile.”